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Democracy

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The following is a 8 message exchange between 3 users

 @9DRRZJZ from Alaska  commented…2yrs2Y

Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for supper. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote! (Ben Franklin quote)

  @VulcanMan6  from Kansas  disagreed…1yr1Y

Democracy could also just as easily be two sheep and a wolf, or three sheep, or three wolves, so this argument is a stupid assumption to begin with.

  @Patriot-#1776Constitution from Washington  commented…1yr1Y

Well you're the stupid expert here not me

  @VulcanMan6  from Kansas  commented…1yr1Y

I have seen my fair share, yes. It's what happens when you're right all the time, not that I expect you to understand...

  @Patriot-#1776Constitution from Washington  commented…1yr1Y

That was a sad attempt at a shoot-back. Claiming to be right all the time? How arrogant of you. I myself have changed my mind on a number of political things – I used to be an interventionist, now I'm an isolationism; I used to be a nationalist, now I'm a States' Rights believer; I used to be a protectionist, now I believe in free trade. I'm the one with the open mind here.

  @VulcanMan6  from Kansas  commented…1yr1Y

lol it was a low-effort mocking joke in response to a low-effort ad hominem counter...I didn't realize we were supposed to be taking these last few comments seriously? You are the one who responded with "well you're the stupid expert here, not me" to a simple counter-argument against an anti-democratic claim. Don't act like I started this.

Also, it's pretty ironic for you to insist that you have an open-mind, after literally calling me a "stupid expert" for calling out a flaw in a centuries-old argument twisted to be against democratic decision-making. Odd, if you ask me. And according to your logic, since I used to be far-right but now I'm far-left, that makes me inherently open-minded as well.

  @Patriot-#1776Constitution from Washington  commented…1yr1Y

Or it makes you susceptible to propaganda

  @VulcanMan6  from Kansas  commented…1yr1Y

Everyone is susceptible to propaganda, we are all just more susceptible to the kinds of ideas that we already believe in. I am more likely to fall for leftist propaganda because I have leftist beliefs, and you are more likely to fall for far-right propaganda because you have far-right beliefs. It's literally just called confirmation bias, and we all do it, whether unconsciously or not. The only way to differentiate is with supporting evidence and/or reasoning.

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 @ISIDEWITH submitted…7mos7MO

The data says the US economy is strong. Swing-state voters disagree.

The US labour market has remained strong even while inflation has plunged from its 2022 peak. In September, the unemployment rate fell back to 4.1 per cent — higher than last year but still historically low. Even so, some warning signs have flashed for the economy. The number of Americans pursuing a second job is rising. So is the number of people unemployed for 15 weeks or longer. Credit card delinquencies are up, as people burn through cash handed out by the government during the pandemic. “People don’t feel as secure now,” said Paul Isely, an economics professor at Grand Valley State University in Michigan. “Even if lots of other markers in their life are better off, they know that they are consuming past their means, whereas before it was hidden by the fact that they had these excess savings.”Please use the sharing tools found via the share button at the top or side of articles. Copying articles to share with others is a breach of“Here’s the problem: inflation is the rate of increase and [that] has slowed, but the public’s focus is on the absolute price,” the president of Western Michigan University said. “It takes a lot for the price level to come down. That would be a recession and deflation, so it’s not quite clear you really want that.”For residents in the state’s most populous area — spanning Detroit, Warren and Dearborn — everyday costs are now much higher and still rising. Inflation jumped to almost 10 per cent in 2022 and was still above 3 per cent as of August, according to federal data.That has left housing-related expenses up 36 per cent since Biden entered office. Petrol is more expensive than under Trump. Grocery prices have risen 25 per cent in the past four years.

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 @ISIDEWITH submitted…6mos6MO

Holy Intervention: Iran Urges Pope Francis to Stop War in Middle East

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian called on Pope Francis to use his influence with Christian governments to stop war in the Middle East, semi-official Fars news agency reported on Wednesday."Encourage world leaders, especially Christian governments, to prevent the continuation of aggressions made by the criminal Israeli regime," Pezeshkian said, in what Fars described as a message to the Pope.The message was delivered by an Iranian delegation participating in a religious dialogue event held in the Vatican, Iran's government website said.Tehran and the Holy See have enjoyed formal diplomatic relations since 1954, and Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in 2022 shared a message to Pope Francis lauding his "stances on consolidating relations between Islam and Christianity".Last week, Pope Francis suggested the global community should study whether Israel's military campaign in Gaza constituted a genocide of the Palestinian people, in some of his most explicit criticism yet of Israel's conduct in its year-long war.Israel says accusations of genocide in its Gaza campaign are baseless and that it is solely hunting down Iranian-backed Hamas and other armed groups.Pezeshkian added that Tehran was ready to engage constructively with the Vatican to promote peace and justice in the world.Francis, leader of the 1.4 billion-member Catholic Church, is usually careful not to take sides in international conflicts, and to stress de-escalation. But he has stepped up his criticism of Israel's conduct in its war against Hamas recently.

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