Open letter to the major parties....

[SEVERUSMAX]

.....


Grow up and get some STATESMEN!

 

[oggbashan]

Sorry.

The only Statesmen are dead politicians who haven't been found out - yet.

Og

 

[SEVERUSMAX]

You're probably right, but I HAD to vent my spleen.

 

[SEVERUSMAX]

If you want the more formal version, with concrete examples, it's in the "He Fought For His Country..." thread. Having used the voice of reason, however, I felt it necessary to give both parties a swift kick in the ass. This thread is that swift kick.

 

[Pure]

I second your motion:

Yayy!

 

[silverwhisper]

like og, i believe you're looking for an extinct critter, severusmax. :>

ed

 

[imalickin]

no, they just went into hiding due to the lack of intelligence in washington at the moment.

 

[R. Richard]

.....


Grow up and get some STATESMEN!

An interesting idea. However, if you want statesmen in power, it is first necessary to get an electorate who will vote for said statesmen.

 

[SEVERUSMAX]

An interesting idea. However, if you want statesmen in power, it is first necessary to get an electorate who will vote for said statesmen.

Sadly, a common problem in the history of republics and democracies. A lot of times, the common sense of the masses gives way to mass hysteria and demagogues replace statesmen. Themistocles of Athens is a clear case. One moment he's the hero of the polis, then next he's a pariah sent to a Persian exile by the envy of his rivals.

 

[Liar]

You're probably right, but I HAD to vent my spleen.

Sage advise... for a spleen, that is.

 

[Miyana Books]

I think Washington is full of intelligent people

There are no true idiots in government. It really is the responsibility of the people to know their rights, and the enormous responsibility responsible government is. It's such a balancing act, it is hard for the common person to actually be able to judge its civil servants.

 

[MasterPhoenix]

The problem is that as people we are looking not at the statesmen, but responding to the fear and baiting of the candidates. We make decisions based on thirty second sound bites. Everything comes down to screaming matches between the extrimists on both sides, with the middle way, which would be the home of a solution being ignored.

There are not many men or women of vision in politics, but I believe that is becuase the ones with true vision know that is not what the mass really wants.

Its a sad situation.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

An interesting idea. However, if you want statesmen in power, it is first necessary to get an electorate who will vote for said statesmen.

Someone said that democracy is the form of government in which the people get the leadership they deserve.

 

[shereads]

Come now. If you were helping direct a particular industry's political investments, would you put your money behind a statesman? It would be like investing your nest egg in 'green' stocks. Nice gesture, but the prospects for immediate gain are almost nil.

 

[shereads]

Sorry.

The only Statesmen are dead politicians who haven't been found out - yet.

Og

Jimmy Carter was probably the only American president of my lifetime who was - and is - genuinely selfless. I won't try to argue that he was effective, but he had that one criterion of statesmanship that seems to be the most rare: he wasn't in it for personal glory or gain.

To Og's point, he's not a dead politician. Just politically dead.

 

[shereads]

Someone said that democracy is the form of government in which the people get the leadership they deserve.

If only that were true.

The truth is, we get the leadership that half of us deserve

 

[shereads]

There are no true idiots in government. It really is the responsibility of the people to know their rights, and the enormous responsibility responsible government is. It's such a balancing act, it is hard for the common person to actually be able to judge its civil servants.

It's not that hard to spot a idiot.

Idiots are less of a problem, though, than the scarcity of civil servants. Being on the public payrole no longer seems to obligate anyone to serve the public. They might, if they weren't in debt to the special interests who fund their election campaigns.

I'm not a big fan of democracy anymore. I just don't know if there's a better system.

Did you see the newspaper photo of Haitian children finding uncounted ballots in a dump?

 

[Purple Sage]

If only that were true.

The truth is, we get the leadership that half of us deserve

Somewhat less than half, at present. Besides, I like to think I deserve better than either of the leading contenders.

 

[Purple Sage]

It's not that hard to spot a idiot.

Idiots are less of a problem, though, than the scarcity of civil servants. Being on the public payrole no longer seems to obligate anyone to serve the public. They might, if they weren't in debt to the special interests who fund their election campaigns.

I'm not a big fan of democracy anymore. I just don't know if there's a better system.

Did you see the newspaper photo of Haitian children finding uncounted ballots in a dump?

There really isn't a lot of evidence that democracy works. Not that anybody has really tried it- the people who design governments have a strong tendency to stack the deck in favor of a ruling elite. How well 'democracy' works has a high correlation to the security and benevolence of that elite. When elites are in conflict, the electorate is stirred up as canon fodder, but rarely has it's interest truly represented.

 

[SEVERUSMAX]

Pure democracy is frankly impractical. That is not the issue. A REPUBLIC, however, can be effective, if its people are not addicted to the public teat and given to listening to demagogues. It also requires that a few genuine statesmen stand out among the mediocrities (who will always make the majority of public servants). When BOTH business and the lower classes are addicted to the public teat, a patriotic citizen like myself tends to feel outrage.