Should the Conservatives Raise the GST

[fellowtraveller]

But all the adscam liberals are already out of prision what's the point?

Not even close, almost none of the Adscam Liberals went to prison in the first place.

[Canadian Blue]

So you really hate democracy that much?

No, I hate a democracy with no measure of limited government, one which is based largely on populism.

Let me rephrase that, I would rather live under a Monarch who recognized the rule of law and ensured individual liberty was protected instead of living under a democracy.

And besides, the history of monarchies doesn't exactly fill one with faith in them either. Caligula, Ethelred and Richard I leap into one's mind. And WTF were Italy and Japan during the period when Fascism arose?

I'm not saying Monarchies are the best system, but I find that democracies where it's rule by the majority can often be worse since it's based on populism and nothing else.

The chief advantage of a democracy is that you can boot a lunatic, an inept leader or a man dedicated to squandering his country's treasury in mad foreign adventures out. The only thing that ever stopped the three guys I mentioned above was getting dead. Thank goodness, for instance, the US didn't have to wait until Dubya croaked.

The irony is that President Obama is now bringing forward the largest budget deficit in history. He was hardly the most qualified candidate in the Democratic Primaries. Once again, politicians are voted in based on rhetoric, rarely is it ever based on qualifications or policies.

Both candidates would have likely been disasterous, John McCain due to his hawkish stance on foreign policy, while Obama basically wants to do away with capitalism altogether it seems.

This is a rather grand claim, considering, for vast majority of human history, we haven't actually been run by democracies. You may be thinking of the Roman Republic, and to be sure it eventually became a monarchy, but I wouldn't say that's typical of democracies. The Athenian Republic certainly didn't go that route (instead, it was crushed by the Spartans, but that's a different story).

Athenian democracy also resulted in the death of Socrates. My argument is simply that a democracy will rarely concern itself with ensuring a society is sustainable through the next generation. That's why people will often give up some of their liberties for expedients, even if it could mean their children are forced to cover the burden. The one benefit with a Monarchy is that a Monarch would feel more obliged to ensure the security of his country for his children, a politician's only goal is to be elected and would be willing to put forward any policies needed for that goal regardless of how destructive they are.

The Roman Republic as it was originally intended is what I'd prefer. However that simply shows my point that populism is a grave threat to any country, a society which is held captive by mob rule will soon become tyrannical.

I'm not saying that I wish we were a Monarchy. However I don't like our current state of democracy as it likely won't be able to survive due to the fact it is based on populism. What's especially troubling for myself is how much power is being concentrated in the PMO under both Conservative and Liberal Prime Ministers. I have a few ideas about how to improve our system, but that's for another time.

Edited March 7, 2009 by Canadian Blue