Any level with a low number can be controlled by elites. Debate can be done on forums. Good ideas go up, bad ideas go down in flames.

To add to the other response the leaders of both nationalities were veterans of the Prague Spring. They had no appetite for more violence. Could you truly say the same of the US?

Congratulations on finding a split I missed though.

Sure, for the low price of a lifetime pension I’ll benevolently dismantle the oligarchy; ban guns; make cars luxury items; massively expand mass transit; and bring in universal health and education!

Just ignore the claims that I’ve actually jailed or killed my opposition; held the families of so called “freedom fighters” so they’ll turn themselves and their buddies in; made travel outside your area and healthcare impossible without government approval; and completely changed the history everyone learns.

Okay that’s obviously pretty extreme. Just a reminder that if you’re not careful even well intentioned dictatorships can be very oppressive. And every dictatorship is on a timer to a coup or revolution. And resetting that timer is not pretty. The only way off the treadmill is to have elections again.

Anyone under the delusion that splitting a country can be peaceful should research any split since the idea of nationalism took hold. India and Pakistan are still the odds on favorite to kill us all with a nuclear winter.

Don’t confuse not being an ammo sexual with not fighting.

To be fair, oppression has existed in every generation. We are not immune, polling makes that very clear. As another example, the leaders of the generation that made the post world war 2 boom did everything in their power to prevent black people from benefitting. Just like the leaders of the baby boomers and silent generation decided to fuck over poor people and begin the regression to another gilded age in the 1970’s.

Don’t forget that if you say it’s because the minority group votes against you then it’s officially political and not racist. Thanks SCOTUS.

We were never going to do representation by population. We barely got the southern colonies to agree to apportionment with land. (This was the 3/5ths compromise.)

I don’t believe that. Not the same America that elected Obama. I think Trump’s first term convinced people he wouldn’t be that bad compared to a party that tried to do a “Weekend at Bernie’s” with their candidate. This is a different Trump than we had last time. This one is willing to do every word of what he says. And that caught people by surprise.

In this specific case? We’ve spent the last two decades watching overly broad anti terrorism laws get passed under the implicit agreement they wouldn’t be abused. Then comes Trump. Americans have been asleep at the wheel since the 1970’s. That’s part of why right wing rhetoric keeps getting more extreme. They need to keep their voting base engaged. Most people don’t want anything to do with politics. If that doesn’t change then no amount of reform will prevent us from voting ourselves out of a democracy.

Ooo, it could take a minute. But yeah if that’s what you want, I’ll do it.

Hold on, lemme go dump my entire homebrew notes in there. :)-

Just kidding, sounds like an invaluable place.

Mexico has a giant deposit but they insist on silly things like environmental regulations.

Duh? You don’t think a Fox News host is actually running the DOD either right? Or Naomi DHS?

This has been transparent from the start.

So much for parents doing research and deciding if it’s right for them. Yet another bad faith argument.

It doesn’t matter if the party doesn’t change. We can keep sleepwalking into it or crash into it, the result will be the same. We must change the Democratic party to avoid disaster.

Hilariously those are the two that would probably be containable.

I went to check it out. It’s 100% real.

Now they’re trotting out reports they’ve miraculously found of him being a human trafficker.

I’d believe it all except you leave out any details. Almost like this is a canned response for any allegation of ICE detaining Puerto Ricans. Because to be clear, a simple Google search reveals there are multiple allegations of multiple instances.

No amount of sane washing is going to push this under the rug.