Thread: Democracy

Main Entry:de·moc·ra·cy
Pronunciation: \di-ˈmä-krə-sē\
Function:noun
Inflected Form(s):plural de·moc·ra·cies

Etymology: from Greek dēmos (government) + Middle French cratien (mentally deficient, cretin),

a: government by the mentally deficient; especially : rule by a majority of cretins

b: a government in which the supreme power is vested in the cretins and exercised by cretins directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections

Usage: "In an exercise of pure democracy, Sarah Palin won the 2006 election as governor of Alaska by a margin of 48-40%."

....and where might we find this utopian extension of political/social philosophy?

I think they have books with pages and pages over that definition, nobody knows really

same with dictatorship, there is only one academic guy who gave a nice definition by using different guidelines, but it's not definite

Originally Posted by Mid

for the record .................

What is your point?

That the word has been bastardized DD.

Just in case we had forgotten what the true meaning is.

government by the people ; especially : rule of the majority

the absence of hereditary or arbitrary class distinctions or privileges

^ You should send that info to Obama.

^ Or perhaps Abhisit.

^ Or perhaps to the leaders of all so called democracies around the world...

Exactly. There is no true democracy, even if your party is called Democratic, no matter how simplistic your view of politics is Jet.

^^ Agreed, democracy is an ideal, as is socialism, both yet to be achieved by any country.

The road to Democracy is more easily achieved through Socialism,

yes, there are no true Democracy, only different shades of it. Mob rules is also not Democracy.

So at the end Thailand is just a shade of Democracy like everyone else, but Kleptocracy is more like it

Thailand falls more under the heading of an Oligarchy than a Democracy.

ol⋅i⋅gar⋅chy  /ˈɒlɪˌgɑrki/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [ol-i-gahr-kee] Show IPA
–noun, plural -chies. 1.a form of government in which all power is vested in a few persons or in a dominant class or clique; government by the few.2.a state or organization so ruled.3.the persons or class so ruling.

And on another rare occasion I agree with Butterfly here.

"The road to Democracy is more easily achieved through Socialism,"

Something the Reds are pursuing at the moment. And it scares the hell out of the Oligarchist Kleptocrats.

More relevant in the context of real world governmental forms:

Liberal democracy (or constitutional democracy) is the dominant form of democracies in the 21st century. During the Cold War, liberal democracies were contrasted with the Communist People's Republics or "Popular Democracies", which claimed an alternative conception of democracy. Today, constitutional democracies are mostly contrasted with direct democracy and/or participatory democracy. Liberal democracies may take various constitutional forms: they may be republics, as the United States or India or France, or constitutional monarchy, as the United Kingdom or Spain. It may have a presidential system (United States), a parliamentary system (Westminster system, UK and Commonwealth countries), or a hybrid, semi-presidential system (France).

I would never want to live in a "pure democracy", whatever that might mean. The idea of "majority rule" gives me the willies.

Originally Posted by mao say dung

The idea of "majority rule" gives me the willies.

Good for the majority, can be deadly for the minority.

The most efficient form of government is undoubtably a benign Dictatorship.
Unfortunately, besides myself, I know of no such person.

Originally Posted by Panda

Something the Reds are pursuing at the moment.

are they really ? I don't think they can tell the difference between the two, don't have the "inspiration" or the "education" to understand the real difference. I suspect the red leaders are more interested into "kleptocracy" more than anything. We saw what they were trying to do, burning houses and destroying public infrastructure, just like monkeys in a porcelain shop.

Originally Posted by mao say dung

Liberal democracy (or constitutional democracy) is the dominant form of democracies in the 21st century. During the Cold War, liberal democracies were contrasted with the Communist People's Republics or "Popular Democracies", which claimed an alternative conception of democracy. Today, constitutional democracies are mostly contrasted with direct democracy and/or participatory democracy. Liberal democracies may take various constitutional forms: they may be republics, as the United States or India or France, or constitutional monarchy, as the United Kingdom or Spain. It may have a presidential system (United States), a parliamentary system (Westminster system, UK and Commonwealth countries), or a hybrid, semi-presidential system (France).

Probably one of the best description I have seen so far here. That's exactly what it is. Ask the reds what kind they want from those definition above, and you will have blank looks. They didn't study that far

Originally Posted by ENT

^^ Agreed, democracy is an ideal, as is socialism, both yet to be achieved by any country.

"Democracy" may be an ideal to some, but to suggest that "it has never been achieved by any country" is just silly. The word was coined to describe existing political arrangements in Greek city states a long time ago; the word did not float down from heaven to tantalize us with its possibilities.

It's messy but everyone gets to participate.

Originally Posted by Butterfly

I think they have books with pages and pages over that definition, nobody knows really

same with dictatorship, there is only one academic guy who gave a nice definition by using different guidelines, but it's not definite

Democracy. Such democratic existences would include: oligarchical ruling-elite? Or perhaps censorship of every sort {arts & letters}? Or maybe even living demi-god puppet masters? Highly organized graft and corruption? Subliminal military romance? Are you talking of this sort of Democracy....???

^ it's no secret that Thailand is pretty far from a modern democracy, don't think it will ever happen unless they break down the entire country