Page 8 of 11 FirstFirst ... 4678910 ... LastLast
Results 71 to 80 of 108

Thread: When I Am King...

  1. #71
    I think I know the name of my future dixie / blue grass band

  2. I'd be interested in hearing more details about a lobbyist ban. Historically putting limits on politicians accepting donations directly from companies was intended to stop this kind of thing from influencing elections, but the completely opaque Super PACs ended up taking shape in its wake. I've often thought that making donations MORE transparent (ie. all sources must be from compliant, audit able sources) but with upper limits set. At least then, like NASCAR, we could see who donated. Maybe then even having some kind of visible logo representation during town halls and rallies could be enforced.

    Quote Originally Posted by Fe 26 View Post
    city privileged scum.
    Driving is the privilege.
    Quote Originally Posted by rezo
    Once, a gang of fat girls threatened to beat me up for not cottoning to their advances. As they explained it to me: "guys can usually beat up girls, but we are all fat, and there are a lot of us."

  3. #73
    so is having lyft access

  4. Saddle up, cowboy.

  5. Lobbying is a necessary part of a representative democracy, isn't it? It needs groups that say, "You are representing our local interests in a bigger collective. And here are those interests." Because a representative can't listen to the interests of every single constituent, representative democracy requires interest groups. And groups are always going to exclude people; a group isn't just defined by who's in it, but who's not.

    And if icarus's point is "then maybe representative democracy (which is based on appeasing the interest of the majority (which is usually self-interest (which is usually financial interests))) sucks," then I'm not kicking him out of bed. Just saying you kind of have to throw out the baby to throw out the bathwater here.
    Last edited by A Robot Bit Me; 16 Apr 2018 at 02:36 PM.

  6. #76
    Quote Originally Posted by Fe 26 View Post
    so is having lyft access
    For now, but the rate of expansion is completely ridiculous. They're aiming for statewide coverage every state they're in, including rural areas.

  7. Also you can drink alcohol and then safely hitch a ride with Lyft, which was the initial point of the comment that was made.

    Quote Originally Posted by A Robot Bit Me View Post
    Lobbying is a necessary part of a representative democracy, isn't it? It needs groups that say, "You are representing our local interests in a bigger collective. And here are those interests." Because a representative can't listen to the interests of every single constituent, representative democracy requires interest groups. And groups are always going to exclude people; a group isn't just defined by who's in it, but who's not.

    And if icarus's point is "then maybe representative democracy (which is based on appeasing the interest of the majority (which is usually self-interest (which is usually financial interests))) sucks," then I'm not kicking him out of bed. Just saying you kind of have to throw out the baby to throw out the bathwater here.
    You've said before you think communism wasn't wrong. But why do you think that? Were the countries that fell to ruin after adopting it co-opted by "not real communism?"
    Quote Originally Posted by rezo
    Once, a gang of fat girls threatened to beat me up for not cottoning to their advances. As they explained it to me: "guys can usually beat up girls, but we are all fat, and there are a lot of us."

  8. Quote Originally Posted by A Robot Bit Me View Post
    Just saying you kind of have to throw out the baby to throw out the bathwater here.
    Yeah. I'm in an continual state of, "Well, free speech is broken anyway," and, "Fuck you, free speech is a core freedom of this country!"

  9. Quote Originally Posted by Drewbacca View Post
    You've said before you think communism wasn't wrong. But why do you think that? Were the countries that fell to ruin after adopting it co-opted by "not real communism?"
    This doesn't even have to be about communism; I'm talking about modes of governance rather than who gets to own what. You could have a representative democracy in a state where everything is publicly owned or a dictatorship in a state where everything is privatized.

    What I should have said was if you want to get rid of lobbying then you also have to get rid of representative democracy in which lobbies are inherent. I don't think lobbying is bad per se; it seems better than the alternatives (dictatorship or Athenian democracy where every decision is a ballot initiative). I just wish it were fiercely regulated. It's the thing that drives change in a representative democracy.

    How do we mediate between the representative and the represented without lobbies? How else do we communicate concerns and interests to the people elected to do things about them? We can't just have town halls and phone calls because some issues are too complex for hand-raising and voicemail-leaving. We need organized advocacy groups for representative democracy to work.

    You could say, "Okay, fine, public lobbying groups only," but then what recourse do you have when your public lobbyist's interests aren't your own? You start your own, but 1. you need money, so now you need to worry about appeasing your donors and 2. how are you going to compete with that public group you don't like for your representative's time? C.R.E.A.M.

    These are improvable but unsolvable problems for representative democracy. And probably for any democracy. Even an Athenian, true democracy needs someone to decide what is and isn't going to be on the ballots, right? Who hears those questions, and who voices them?
    Last edited by A Robot Bit Me; 16 Apr 2018 at 05:24 PM. Reason: a dictatorship of the proletariat overseeing a system without private capital doesn't have this problem.........just sayin'

  10. Lobbying isn't the only way to get input from relevant groups. If a trade organization wants to inform policy, they can file a non-legal equivalent to an amicus brief rather than buying politicians. Citizen activists have more than ample platforms to be heard as well. Having a government that actually reaches out to industry rather than the other way around doesn't sound so bad.

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Games.com logo