05-25-2024, 07:32 AM
Well, this thread turned to the inevitable rather quickly.
I want to reply to this, because I don't entirely disagree. I will just do my best to articulate why I don't come to the same conclusion you do as far as the choice. Trump does not reflect little-d democratic ideals. Now, if this were just about Trump I would be less concerned, but it's not. The GOP in general (and some Democrats for that matter) have been pushing for a stronger Executive for many years and for lowering the representativeness and accountability of our government to the people. Point blank.
Our government was founded on the principles that the legislature, Congress, was the first and most important branch of our government. They are the the lawmakers and it is the job of the POTUS to ensure their laws are carried out. POTUS presents a budget to them each year saying "this is what I need to enforce your laws" and Congress appropriates funds. It is the role of the people to hold these elected officials accountable for their actions. However, one party in particular works to decrease access to voting at every chance they get because, by their own admission, when more eligible voters are voting, they are less likely to win.
I genuinely and sincerely fear that a GOP government will continue to attack the democratic ideals that this nation was founded upon and we will no longer have a system that will be renewed. That is what their behavior and attitudes tell me. Trump, while not the root cause of all of this, has very autocratic tendencies. He is the charismatic, nationalistic, faux-populist in favor of a strong executive that is the mold of every single despot we have seen rise to power in the modern world.
We have the oldest constitutional government in the world right now. We are an outlier because democracies rise and fall all the time. What this does mean is that we are able to learn from those situations. Study them, examine them, understand what was going on when that government fell. Do you know what that research tells us? It tells us that what the MAGA movement is doing to the GOP and our nation is what we have seen happen over and over again when a democratic nation falls into authoritarianism. Remember me saying in another thread that I am a "government in the sun" type of person who believes in the principles of servant leadership? The reason I am so concerned about this slide away from democratic ideals is because of this. Authoritarian states lack transparency and accountability. Their leaders do not serve the people because they are not accountable to them.
These are the things I think about when casting my vote. Admittedly, this isn't most people. These are deeper issues than most people think of. And don't get me wrong when I say this, but most voters are uninformed on these things. Most voters aren't consuming political news and research. They aren't reading about what happened or is happening in Hungary, Peru, Nicaragua, the Czech Republic, Ethiopia, Turkey, Slovakia, Russia, or any of the many countries currently facing these challenges. They are thinking about what is impacting their daily lives, or at least what they are being told is impacting them. I am thinking about Ben Franklin's words as he exited Independence Hall in 1787 and was asked by a citizen, "what have we got?." "A republic, if you can keep it."
(05-24-2024, 11:05 PM)HarleyDog Wrote: As people do now under Biden. Let's face it, it's a no win. Neither one of us like our candidates. Or at least I don't. But to me, Trump is the better choice right now. What we have isn't working. It's devastating. In a system that needs to be renewed, we should not be stuck with the candidates we have. But, we have to deal with it and make our choice on voting day.
I want to reply to this, because I don't entirely disagree. I will just do my best to articulate why I don't come to the same conclusion you do as far as the choice. Trump does not reflect little-d democratic ideals. Now, if this were just about Trump I would be less concerned, but it's not. The GOP in general (and some Democrats for that matter) have been pushing for a stronger Executive for many years and for lowering the representativeness and accountability of our government to the people. Point blank.
Our government was founded on the principles that the legislature, Congress, was the first and most important branch of our government. They are the the lawmakers and it is the job of the POTUS to ensure their laws are carried out. POTUS presents a budget to them each year saying "this is what I need to enforce your laws" and Congress appropriates funds. It is the role of the people to hold these elected officials accountable for their actions. However, one party in particular works to decrease access to voting at every chance they get because, by their own admission, when more eligible voters are voting, they are less likely to win.
I genuinely and sincerely fear that a GOP government will continue to attack the democratic ideals that this nation was founded upon and we will no longer have a system that will be renewed. That is what their behavior and attitudes tell me. Trump, while not the root cause of all of this, has very autocratic tendencies. He is the charismatic, nationalistic, faux-populist in favor of a strong executive that is the mold of every single despot we have seen rise to power in the modern world.
We have the oldest constitutional government in the world right now. We are an outlier because democracies rise and fall all the time. What this does mean is that we are able to learn from those situations. Study them, examine them, understand what was going on when that government fell. Do you know what that research tells us? It tells us that what the MAGA movement is doing to the GOP and our nation is what we have seen happen over and over again when a democratic nation falls into authoritarianism. Remember me saying in another thread that I am a "government in the sun" type of person who believes in the principles of servant leadership? The reason I am so concerned about this slide away from democratic ideals is because of this. Authoritarian states lack transparency and accountability. Their leaders do not serve the people because they are not accountable to them.
These are the things I think about when casting my vote. Admittedly, this isn't most people. These are deeper issues than most people think of. And don't get me wrong when I say this, but most voters are uninformed on these things. Most voters aren't consuming political news and research. They aren't reading about what happened or is happening in Hungary, Peru, Nicaragua, the Czech Republic, Ethiopia, Turkey, Slovakia, Russia, or any of the many countries currently facing these challenges. They are thinking about what is impacting their daily lives, or at least what they are being told is impacting them. I am thinking about Ben Franklin's words as he exited Independence Hall in 1787 and was asked by a citizen, "what have we got?." "A republic, if you can keep it."
"A great democracy has got to be progressive, or it will soon cease to be either great or a democracy..." - TR
"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little." - FDR
"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little." - FDR
