National Direct Democracy

Posted by Casebier 7 years, 4 months ago to Politics
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Trump's tweeting is a return to direct democracy instead of representative democracy. Direct democracy is where citizens directly vote for and have direct communications with their national leader, but in representative democracy groups of citizens elect their local leaders to be their representatives to communicate their desires to their national leaders. Trump is closer to the former; Congress, the latter. Only with the advent of social media has it become possible for a modern form of direct democracy, and Trump is the first to recognize and employ it to give voice to those who were heretofore voiceless, to communicate directly with the governed, and it is driving the old guard of representative government crazy. Further, while the media could control the messages of the representative democracy leaders in print and media, they can no longer control the messages of the new direct democracy.


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  • Posted by $ WilliamShipley 7 years, 4 months ago
    It's only a direct democracy if the people can directly make decisions based on the tweets. Otherwise he is just trying to lobby them to lobby their representatives -- a long standing practice.
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    • Posted by $ Olduglycarl 7 years, 4 months ago
      I think your take is right on, even if this is a "Direct Demonocracy"...there would still need to be a way to weed out the crap.
      I don't see too much of a two way conversation, it's just a tweet/ then a reaction.

      If DD was in fact the meme of the day, I would worry about "those with no voice" becoming a new power hungry mob.
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  • Posted by Zenphamy 7 years, 4 months ago
    Direct democracy is socialism. It is majority rule destined to destroy individual/natural rights.
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    • Posted by IndianaGary 7 years, 4 months ago
      It's three wolves and a sheep voting on what's for dinner.
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      • Posted by Zenphamy 7 years, 4 months ago
        Yes, and more. It's a total corruption of not only the founders dreams for this country, its also the means of the downfall into our present state of affairs. When a people learn they can vote themselves money taken from others by their gov't, the result is collectivist/statist utopia.

        Mob rule has no room for the individual or the mind. This grand experiment for freedom was gutted and destroyed by democratic vote, by "gov't of the people, by the people, for the people". The people are the mob.
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    • Posted by 7 years, 4 months ago
      Socialism is an economic system. Direct democracy is a political system which in our case has (or had) constitutional restrictions. Unfortunately, our constitution has been greatly diminished by federal empowering amendments like the 16th that established a federal income tax, or the 17th that raped the states and their legislatures of their federal power, and through bastardization of the general welfare clause that had its intended use to fund national defense and national infrastructure to bind together the individual states. Without those and other federal actions and amendments. we would have the balance of direct democracy and representative democracy that our forefathers intended. The last bastion of state power today is the ability to designate federal congressional districts, an ability that is under attack by those who would, if they could, eliminate states all together. Those districts are awarded by population including non-citizens and those ineligible to vote like convicted criminals, not by the number of eligible voters. Were it based on eligible voters, California would probably loose about 10% of their congressional districts, and that's based on the known number of illegal immigrants in California, while the actual illegal population could be a multiple of that. This is also a primary reason why California is refusing to cooperate with the President's commission on voting rights and voting fraud.
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  • Posted by dymwyt 7 years, 4 months ago
    I completely agree with you that Trump is making the establishment crazy ... and the media, too. It's right and good that they cannot control his messages.

    That direct communication from Trump is what we need, but our current representative democracy is a better form of governing a union of states (although we need term limits and sunset laws and the best tool for citizens to be directly involved is to vote the scoundrels out.)
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    • Posted by $ allosaur 7 years, 4 months ago
      Me dino pleads Trump tweets are motivated by self defense.
      Those of the pseudo-elite who lie about Trump thinks a GOP presidential-acting president is supposed to just sit there and take all their oo-oo-oo hurled chimpanzee feces.
      That's because the media has a passionate hope that their corrupt antics will all the sooner create the situation so they may fawn all over a socialist Jackass Party president.
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  • Posted by LibertyBelle 7 years, 4 months ago
    We are supposed to have a republic, not a democ-
    racy. And what we need is a Constitutional republic, where individual rights are guaranteed.Will we ever get it? That depends on whether the American people will learn what right is. We should try to convert the population to Objectivism. But time is running short.
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  • Posted by mia767ca 7 years, 4 months ago
    we were founded as a republic...not a democracy...a democracy ends up as a dictatorship of the majority....first let's return to a republic...only productive individuals get to vote...
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  • Posted by ycandrea 7 years, 4 months ago
    We are not a democracy. We are a Republic and there is a big difference. Each state has a say in everything instead of mob rule. We have a Constitution that sets the guidelines on what can and cannot be voted on.
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  • Posted by Jstork 7 years, 4 months ago
    I don't see why we already don't have a direct democracy. We have the technology (barring internet viruses and infiltrations). The only caveat is that we need true capitalism and objectivism in effect. Otherwise it is "gang-rule" as Rand would put it.
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  • Posted by Storo 7 years, 4 months ago
    Representative Republic, as described here, presumes that our representatives are actually going to do what their voters want them to do. Unfortunately, our Republic isn't working that way today. Today we have representatives with their own agendas, or following the agendas of the "Establishment", and the people be damned.
    I don't think that Trump tweeting is a danger to the Republic. But when we have over half of those in Congress, "cooperating" with the other half of those in Congress, and pushing an agenda that is contrary to the stated wishes of the people, you get a Donald Trump as President, and a confirmation of the people's agenda based in social media tweets.
    I would love to have our Representative Republic function as it was intended. But until we rid ourselves of career politicians whose primary goal is re-election, it will not. Term limits is vital. And in the meantime we need to continue to communicate with our President, who is the only one listening.
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  • Posted by gpecaut 7 years, 4 months ago
    Direct democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what's for dinner. Our Constitutional Republic is what protects the rights and liberty of the minorities. This last Presidential Election is a prime example. With our system the majority of the Country selected Trump. If we used a popular vote the major cities would select how the rest of the country would be forced to live.
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  • Posted by fivedollargold 7 years, 4 months ago
    The ancient Athenians had a direct democracy of sorts. It was restricted to the elites. Unlike today's progressives, they failed to recognize the strength of diverse peoples and beliefs, and were unwelcoming to Persian, Arab, and Turkish immigrants as well as the non-binary gendered. These Athenian Trump-o-dites even failed to embrace to Statist culture of their Spartan cousins. Unbelievable how backward-thinking these multi-god-fearing, red-city, alt-right, conservative tea drinkers were. No wonder Phillip of Macedonia kicked their butts and stole their asses, along with gold and silver.
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