Quote: (09-27-2014 09:47 AM)Tuthmosis Wrote:
Quote: (09-27-2014 05:35 AM)assman Wrote:
Next correction: America is NOT a democracy. It is (or at least was) a constitutional republic.
It's both, actually. This guy does a good job of debunking this commonly repeated talking point.
My argument is that we're none of those anymore. We're a plutocracy, almost perfectly by the dictionary definition. "Democrat," "Republican," "liberal," and "conservative" labels are put there to keep us distractedly rooting for our "team" (tribe), rather than complaining that suddenly even hard-working adult professionals have to live with 16 roommates and still can't afford to pay off their student-ass loans.
That guy is wrong, and if he had read the literature surrounding the Founders, he would know that he's wrong.
The United States was founded as a constitutional republic, with some very clear elements of oligarchy. The Constitution is replete with examples of preventing the mob from having too much power. See the election of Senators and the Electoral College for two excellent examples.
For a scholarly reference, read Beard's An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States. The American Revolution was far more conservative than most people will say.
If you're not fucking her, someone else is.