so like i've been saying

[Witty]

Originally Posted by Diode

the people are fucking morons.

no direct democracy has ever lasted any significant period of time.

Switzerland?

[Destroyer]

Nor has any democracy?

[Diode]

Originally Posted by Destroyer

Nor has any democracy?

Our democratic republic had a decent run before being perverted by lobbyists and special interest groups (the monopoly/trust era notwithstanding).

[Destroyer]

Decent, but a couple of hundred years is not really a lot of time when talking about established systems of govt that work well or not

[uh-oh]

the roman republic>

[Destroyer]

Not a democracy

[uh-oh]

Originally Posted by Destroyer

Not a democracy

neither is america, its a republic

like the roman republic we democratically elect people to represent us.

[Witty]

Originally Posted by uh-oh

neither is america, its a republic

like the roman republic we democratically elect people to represent us.

Rome purposely and deliberately put all of the power in to the hands of the wealthy...America has to be a bit more subtle about it.

[uh-oh]

Originally Posted by Witty

Rome purposely and deliberately put all of the power in to the hands of the wealthy...America has to be a bit more subtle about it.

nonsense

america may have a better cover of wool to pull over the eyes of the people, but rome at least had a political office with actual power that spoke for the plebs/poor

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribune_of_the_Plebs

while sure if you wanted to be consul (like a president) and you had the "peoples" best interests at heart you would most likely be knifed. like the countless number who did just that and met that fate. but you could always be the tribune of the plebs

if the senate and or consuls wanted to do something that wasn't in their favor the tribune of the plebs could just veto it. and they would have to go along with it. the office was sacred. you couldn't harm them or go against them.

and you can argue that well the richest would always get voted in to normal seats, and it was set up so the noble families already had the power and influence to be elected, but how is it different today?

even at the local level the candidate with more money has more influence and just better name recognition. if there is a sign for bumfuck mcgillicutty in every yard, when you go to vote how likely are you to vote for the other guy you never heard of. it was the same back then

if TIDUS SATURNUS JUPITERNIUS shows up on the BLOCK with a cart full of bread for the people, they're gonna vote for him

its the same

humans don't change.

[Witty]

Originally Posted by uh-oh

nonsense

america may have a better cover of wool to pull over the eyes of the people, but rome at least had a political office with actual power that spoke for the plebs/poor

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribune_of_the_Plebs

while sure if you wanted to be consul (like a president) and you had the "peoples" best interests at heart you would most likely be knifed. like the countless number who did just that and met that fate. but you could always be the tribune of the plebs

if the senate and or consuls wanted to do something that wasn't in their favor the tribune of the plebs could just veto it. and they would have to go along with it. the office was sacred. you couldn't harm them or go against them.

and you can argue that well the richest would always get voted in to normal seats, and it was set up so the noble families already had the power and influence to be elected, but how is it different today?

even at the local level the candidate with more money has more influence and just better name recognition. if there is a sign for bumfuck mcgillicutty in every yard, when you go to vote how likely are you to vote for the other guy you never heard of. it was the same back then

if TIDUS SATURNUS JUPITERNIUS shows up on the BLOCK with a cart full of bread for the people, they're gonna vote for him

its the same

humans don't change.

It's not different from today, I'm just saying the Romans were much more blatant about it.

And the tribune of the plebs was a great idea, but it was only relevant within the City of Rome.

[Destroyer]

Yeah, in theory
In practicality, it is an oligarchy

[Witty]

There are actually a lot of parallels between America and Rome.

[Adonis]

Side note, the radio told me some local death metal legend was voted into Senate against his wishes and now MUST serve four years before being able to step down.