Etiquette



DP Etiquette

First rule: Don't be a jackass.

Other rules: Do not attack or insult people you disagree with. Engage with facts, logic and beliefs. Out of respect for others, please provide some sources for the facts and truths you rely on if you are asked for that. If emotion is getting out of hand, get it back in hand. To limit dehumanizing people, don't call people or whole groups of people disrespectful names, e.g., stupid, dumb or liar. Insulting people is counterproductive to rational discussion. Insult makes people angry and defensive. All points of view are welcome, right, center, left and elsewhere. Just disagree, but don't be belligerent or reject inconvenient facts, truths or defensible reasoning.

Monday, March 1, 2021

I know it’s complicated but…

  


Was/Is The American Experiment destined to eventually fail?

"Is it possible for a Government to be permanently maintained without privileged classes, without a standing army, and without either hereditary or self-appointed rulers? Is the democratic principle of equal rights, general suffrage, and government by a majority, capable of being carried into practical operation, and that, too, over a large extent of country?"

If NO, why not?  What keeps or will keep The American Experiment together/keep it going?

  • Your reasons here

If YES, what are the possible reasons for its eventual failure?  Examples:

  • Too much diversity (races, creeds, colors, etc)
  • Too much individuality over a collective mindset (versus, say, China)
  • Too much liberty (DFS, R-wing/L-wing media influence, torts abuse, etc)
  • Not enough liberty (Patriot Act, privacy issues, ACLU influence, etc)
  • Not enough “Ask what you can do for your country” and
  • Too much “Ask what your country can do for you”
  • Too much heretofore “white privilege” being lost and/or undermined
  • Too little higher education and critical thinking classes
  • Too much influence on politics and decision-making by “fly-over” country
  • Too much Hollywood (glitz and glamour over substance, car crashes, movie stars/sports stars worship/delusions of wannabe grandeur, “wrong kind” of hero worship, etc)
  • Too little (i.e., flimsy) values (sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll, “me me me” thinking, immediate gratification wants, etc)
  • The good idea of Capitalism used and abused to the point of too much greed (deregulation in the name of profits, slave/poverty wages, tax loopholes, unfair tax laws, etc)
  • Nothing or very little to unite (i.e., no common values)
  • Other

How long (in years) do you give the American Experiment to survive?

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