This is not democracy!

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[!--QuoteBegin-LooseCannon+Jul 21 2005, 07:40 PM--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(LooseCannon @ Jul 21 2005, 07:40 PM)[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--]I live with a guy named Kohler.
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Just tell him "Du Shlaufst in Mien bett mit Mir NICHT!" lol or something like that... Haven't used my German in two years.
 
BlackAce, from what I understand it's very very rare in Germany for elections to be held before the end of the government's term in office. What happened was that Gerhard Schröder, the Bundeskanzler, was very unpopular in public opinion polls.

He arranged for a vote of confidence from the Bundestag (parliament) in order to see if he still carried the support of the elected representatives. Knowing that the members of the parliament would probably vote in his favour just to avoid an election, he knew that the people of Germany wouldn't be content with the outcome.

Schröder had to arrange for his own government to be defeated in the confidence vote in order to force the President to dissolve the Bundestag and call for elections.
Under the Basic Law, Köhler wasn't required to do so, though it was within his powers. He finally decided to put it to a vote in order to clarify whether Schröder has a mandate to run the government.

Under the Westminster system of parliaments (Canada, UK, etc), this stuff happens all the time when no single party has a majority, but it's rare in more stable German-style systems.
 
Got the news (sorry Duke, read it two mins before I got here [!--emo&;)--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/wink.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'wink.gif\' /][!--endemo--]).
Now I completely lost all my faith in German politics. Fuck this country. Democracy doesn't work. Fuck it all.

As they say, you have to be a c(o)unt to run a country...
 
[!--QuoteBegin-Perun+Jul 22 2005, 03:32 PM--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(Perun @ Jul 22 2005, 03:32 PM)[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--]Democracy doesn't work.
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No, this is precisely the way democracy works. Unfortunately.
Got a better idea of how to run a country? [!--emo&:unsure:--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/unsure.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'unsure.gif\' /][!--endemo--]
 
Was Genghis Khan's empire a democracy? It was the largest empire that ever was though. [!--emo&^_^--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/happy.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'happy.gif\' /][!--endemo--]
 
Yeah, and it broke apart after Ogadai died [!--emo&:P--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/tongue.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'tongue.gif\' /][!--endemo--]
 
[!--QuoteBegin-Maverick+Jul 22 2005, 03:40 PM--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(Maverick @ Jul 22 2005, 03:40 PM)[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--]It was the largest empire that ever was though.  [!--emo&^_^--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/happy.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'happy.gif\' /][!--endemo--]
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Wasn't it Alexander's empire? Even if not, they both fell apart. And I've had enough of tyranny. [!--emo&:)--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/smile.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'smile.gif\' /][!--endemo--]
 
Alexanders empire was the third-largest in antiquity, after Rome (at 117 AD) and Persia (at 500 BC). A hell of a lot empires throughout history qualify as being larger than Alexanders... modern-day Canada is bigger. The Mongolian empire was the largest land-empire in history, but the British Empire was undoubtedly bigger.
 
They fell apart after the ruler died. The most recent example is Yugoslavia.
 
[!--QuoteBegin-Maverick+Jul 22 2005, 09:40 AM--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(Maverick @ Jul 22 2005, 09:40 AM)[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--]Was Genghis Khan's empire a democracy? It was the largest empire that ever was though.  [!--emo&^_^--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/happy.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'happy.gif\' /][!--endemo--]
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umm...yeah, but how's that relevant?

Empires forged through the will of a single individual are almost garunteed to fail once that man is gone. Alexander the Great, Genghis Kahn, Charlemenge, Hitler, the list goes on.

It takes a nation as a whole to make lasting greatness. Look at the Roman Republic or British Empire. The state did not collapse upon the death of a consul or king (sounds kinda like Stalinism, eh?).
 
[!--QuoteBegin-Maverick+Jul 22 2005, 03:47 PM--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(Maverick @ Jul 22 2005, 03:47 PM)[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--]They fell apart after the ruler died. The most recent example is Yugoslavia.
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See? The weak link is in the essence of the system itself. [!--emo&:)--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/smile.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'smile.gif\' /][!--endemo--]
 
Sorry to dissapoint you, but there are enough examples of countries that were passed on to other dictators.
North Korea, Syria, most of the former East Block (bar Yugoslavia and Romania of course, and probably some I'm not so sure about)... the list is really, really long.
 
Then, I suggest a dictatorship led by an intellectual elite of thinkers (writers, philosophers, scientists,...) for the good of the people. The people are most of the time unable to judge the issues at hand and should not be asked to vote for things they don't understand.

All dictatorships have been based on force and hatred so far. Why not have one that would only consider what's best for everyone, for a change? [!--emo&^_^--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/happy.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'happy.gif\' /][!--endemo--]
 
Are you saying dictatorship or autocracy is the best and fittest solution? I've lived in one, and I dare say NOT.
 
Mav really has a Platonic love (sorry for the pun). I really do tend to agree with him though...
 
[!--QuoteBegin-Maverick+Jul 22 2005, 03:56 PM--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(Maverick @ Jul 22 2005, 03:56 PM)[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--]All dictatorships have been based on force and hatred so far. Why not have one that would only consider what's best for everyone, for a change?  [!--emo&^_^--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/happy.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'happy.gif\' /][!--endemo--]
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Because it is the nature of man to abuse power for his own good, once he has it. And democracy is the only way this can be controlled, as limping as it may be.
 
Sadly, democracy does not always work the way it does. Must I point out that Hitler was elected in a completely constitutional democratic vote? The big danger is called populism. Populists ensure that it's not the people's will that gets expressed on the ballot, but that of the one who shouts the loudest.
 
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