I Have a Few Questions

[Gene C]

Considering what the founding fathers came up with, they did a pretty good job. I can't think of a place I would rather live, in spite of what some of our current politicians have done (or not done).

[J. Beckert]

Amen, Gene. Great point.

[LincolnMan]

Gene: That's a sentiment we all need to bear in mind. Like many others probably on this site, I've been to many other countries-and I haven't seen one yet I would want to live in. Vacation at? Yes. Live there? Don't think so.

[Laurie Verge]

Amen to Bill, Gene, and Herb. It's easy to find fault with things, but a lot harder to dive in and try to fix them. Despite some attempts recently to stir up class warfare, I think the U.S. has made great strides in the past fifty years in trying to advance equality. It all depends on individuals wanting to make advances.

[Rob Wick]

I would also agree that living in America far exceeds any other country in the world, although class warfare, like beauty, is often in the eye of the beholder.

Best
Rob

[My Name Is Kate]

I totally agree with all the comments made after my last post (not sure if I made myself clear in my next-to-last post. I was mostly playing the devil's advocate in this thread.)

[Gene C]

I totally agree with all the comments made after my last post (not sure if I made myself clear in my next-to-last post. I was mostly playing the devil's advocate in this thread.)

There were times in school, that with all the homework, I thought teachers were the devil's advocate

[L Verge]

We were, but that's only a technique to get students to do critical thinking. Some of us, however, were/are truly devils! LOL.

[My Name Is Kate]

I don't know much of anything about history. I was just trying to see if there was any merit to the argument I've heard, that the Constitution is mainly just a crock, along with those who drafted it.

[L Verge]

I have heard those same slams against what is basically our system of government in paper form for years. Having been trained during the Communist era and also on topics that involved how to destroy a country or civilization from within, I view such comments about the Constitution and our forefathers as part of that latter topic. Say it long enough and loud enough, and people start to believe it. Beware of false prophets and Manchurian candidates...

Our Constitution and system of government (as broken as it may seem at times) have stood the test of time for over 200 years. I just hope that this and future generations of leaders and people have enough sense to keep it going for at least 200 more years. I don't happen to care for the alternatives myself.

[Gene C]

Kate, I haven't taken the class, but you may be interested in this. It's a free on line class - Constitution 101

http://constitution.hillsdale.edu/

[My Name Is Kate]

Maybe I should take that course, but I'm pretty politically out of the loop too. I find it all far too nauseating. But I do have some good sources who have a stronger stomach for politics than I do, and they keep me informed enough that I can exercise my voting right/privilege with reasonable intelligence.

However, I am a pretty good judge of character (or the lack of it) and that helps me in making decisions.

[Hess1865]

America has made some mistakes throughout its existence, but the Nation tries to correct and improve these situations.
Some times it takes years to get things on track, but America will always be a work in progress

[Jim Page]

Kate, Answers.com has an interesting and informative article about constitutional democracy that you might find illuminating. Here's a quote:
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The government of the United States is called a constitutional democracy. It is a democracy because the government is based on the consent of the people. Further, the government operates according to the principle of majority rule. The people, for example, elect their representatives and senators in Congress by majority vote; and the members of Congress make laws according to majority rule.

The popular and democratic government of the United States, however, is limited by the higher law of the Constitution in order to secure, as the Declaration of Independence says, the “unalienable rights” of every person. These legal limitations on the people's government make the United States a constitutional democracy, not an unlimited democracy.

A constitutional democracy, then, is government by majority rule with protection of minority rights. It is democratic because of its foundations of popular consent and majority rule. It is constitutional because the power of the majority to rule is limited by a supreme law.
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Winston Churchill once said, "Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time." Churchill wrote some wonderful histories that are worth a look.

Enjoy the journey--

--Jim

[JMadonna]

Thanks, Herb. Now, if I could just get Jerry Madonna to agree with me on SOME of the topics....

Laurie, you know I agree with you on most all of the topics.... except the ones where you're wrong.