At least in the UK and US, politicians are directly accountable to the people who voted for them. In Sweden, with no politicians having any tie to anything other than their party, how do towns and villages have anyone in government to represent their interests? And what happens to politicians who don't toe the party line and stand as independents?
The fault isn't in the system itself, but in the American voters who refuse to vote for a third party. There are countries with election systems similar to America with multiple parties, because people aren't brainwashed into voting for the same two.
So because politicians have spent other people's hard-earned money on vanity projects since the dawn of time, they should continue to do so today?
I hear people say that space travel costs nothing compared to the cost of wars. But if money isn't being spent on wars, it would be better served giving it back to the tax-payers rather than lining the pockets of Lockheed shareholders.
An MP3 player can be had for less than a few hours of minimum wage labor, yet the Egyptian pharaohs could not obtain them: does that make a homeless American sporting an iPod wealthier than the pharaohs? Of course not.
Maybe not someone who's homeless, but an American on a minimum wage has a higher standard of living than a pharaoh. For a start their life expectancy is much higher, they have access to far better health care, better education, they can travel much further in much shorter times, they have far more entertainment and leisure options. Even the cheapest, knackered old car is faster and more comfortable than the way the pharaohs travelled. Even the poorest man today can eat food flown in from the other side of the world, something impossible even a century ago.
Poor means going into debt within hours of losing a job
What do you think happened to ancient Egyptians when they lost their jobs? Oh wait, they couldn't lose their jobs, they were slaves. Sort of makes stacking shelves seem like luxury in comparison.
I fail to see how the poor are getting poorer considering how many of them have subscription TV, brand-name clothes, takeout food every week, mobile phones, MP3 players, and god-knows what else.
Once upon a time, being poor meant cabbage soup for dinner, outside toilets, washing clothes by hand, and smashing up the furniture to burn during winter just to keep yourself alive. But yeah, keep telling yourself the poor are getting poorer.
I have to kowtow to an alarm clock that rings at 6:30 AM. Where are the promises that technology was supposed to reduce working hours and make our lives more pleasant?
Thanks to technology, you no longer have to get up at 4am and walk 10 miles to work 14 hours down a mine. I think your post just sums up how spoilt today's generation is:
"Woe is me, I have to drive to work in an air conditioned car, sit down for 8 hours doing horrible exhausting typing, then go home to my leather sofa and big-screen TV, never having to worry about going hungry or cold. Why is the world so cruel????"
Actually that particular strip was to do with Clarkson, especially as in the last frame Clarkson takes over Roger Mellie's and starts shagging the cars himself.
Why should areas get representation instead of people?
We elect politicians to represent our areas in parliament. Under this system, every area of the country is represented. Under PR, no-one has any representation, and politicans are accountable to no-one, they're unelected and placed in power by their parties. It's the antithesis of democracy, with no leading politician ever being at risk, and many areas of the country completely disenfranchised.
Governments should be made up of people, not parties.
A party may have received 40% of the vote, but if only 10% of the areas in the country voted to be represented by a member of that party, why should they have more than 10% of the seats?
That just doesn't make sense to me in the US...I mean, if you are poor...you cannot AFFORD the large TV or satellite hookups over here. I mean, if you are on welfare here...how are you going to afford to drop $2200+ on a big LCD tv, and then $40+/mo on a Satellite subscription??
They can't afford them, it's all on credit cards/overdrafts. However the OP is off the mark, the rich in England all have giant HDTVs with Sky. There are many poor people with jobs who have huge TVs and Sky, but no savings.
Considering that most people don't have HDTVs, let alone 50" HDTVs, I think that both HDTV and Blu-Ray will be of little importance to most people for many years yet.
Something like that might work on the scale of a tiny country like Switzerland, but I can't see it happening on the scale of a major country with much more diversity.
Proportional representation means that everyone outside of a major conurbation suddenly has no voice, no power, and no representation in government, and that politicians are not accountable to anyone other than their party.
So in other words, if you don't like the result of a referendum, just hold it again and again until you get the 'right' answer. Then never have a referendum again. This is democracy?
The US Congress is run on a parliamentary model -- the Speaker of the House is equivalent to the Prime Minister, and Congressional committees to ministries. The difference is we don't trust them to run the government, so we separated the power into two branches -- the President runs the government, the Congress sets laws and budgets.
So in other words, not a parliamentary model at all.
And a ministry is a government department not a committee.
Aside the case artwork and such, what's the significance of having a "physical copy" in your possession?
Because then you can still watch it after your hard disk crashes or gets accidently wiped. Unless you live in some parallel universe where computers aren't as a fickle as women on a period.
For those of you who buy books regularly, do you really read them 3+ times? Or is there some other reason you do it instead of going to the library?
Most of the books I read are old and cost a few pounds at most. I'd rather just throw it in the bottom of my filthy work bag and forget about it rather than having to keep it intact and renew it every week. And I often read books several times. When I finish a book, I'd rather just get another one off the shelf rather than have to go to the library.
I haven't been to a library in well over a decade, yet still read quite frequently, so that last line in the article is meaningless.
The iPhone brought multi-touch displays into the mainstream
Far be it for me to dare to question the iPhone, but if touching a screen in a slightly different way counts as a technological breakthrough, then it has been a crappy year.
Slashdot Mirror
At least in the UK and US, politicians are directly accountable to the people who voted for them. In Sweden, with no politicians having any tie to anything other than their party, how do towns and villages have anyone in government to represent their interests? And what happens to politicians who don't toe the party line and stand as independents?
The fault isn't in the system itself, but in the American voters who refuse to vote for a third party. There are countries with election systems similar to America with multiple parties, because people aren't brainwashed into voting for the same two.
So because politicians have spent other people's hard-earned money on vanity projects since the dawn of time, they should continue to do so today?
I hear people say that space travel costs nothing compared to the cost of wars. But if money isn't being spent on wars, it would be better served giving it back to the tax-payers rather than lining the pockets of Lockheed shareholders.
I fail to see how the poor are getting poorer considering how many of them have subscription TV, brand-name clothes, takeout food every week, mobile phones, MP3 players, and god-knows what else.
Once upon a time, being poor meant cabbage soup for dinner, outside toilets, washing clothes by hand, and smashing up the furniture to burn during winter just to keep yourself alive. But yeah, keep telling yourself the poor are getting poorer.
"Woe is me, I have to drive to work in an air conditioned car, sit down for 8 hours doing horrible exhausting typing, then go home to my leather sofa and big-screen TV, never having to worry about going hungry or cold. Why is the world so cruel????"
So if it wasn't for immigrants we could have another few nukes and a sub?
Actually that particular strip was to do with Clarkson, especially as in the last frame Clarkson takes over Roger Mellie's and starts shagging the cars himself.
Governments should be made up of people, not parties.
A party may have received 40% of the vote, but if only 10% of the areas in the country voted to be represented by a member of that party, why should they have more than 10% of the seats?
Legit things, and even pirated things, are downloaded easily enough using rapidshare rather than bittorrent, which is unreliable and often blocked.
Another few downsides of public transport:
1. Doesn't work on holidays, at night, early in the mornings, and runs less frequently at weekends.
2. Unprofitable routes are cut.
3. You're stranded every time bus/train drivers are on strike.
4. Surrounded by the scum of society, i.e. feral kids, junkies.
5. Have to carry the right change everywhere.
6. The government is telling you when and where you can do.
Considering that most people don't have HDTVs, let alone 50" HDTVs, I think that both HDTV and Blu-Ray will be of little importance to most people for many years yet.
Something like that might work on the scale of a tiny country like Switzerland, but I can't see it happening on the scale of a major country with much more diversity.
Proportional representation means that everyone outside of a major conurbation suddenly has no voice, no power, and no representation in government, and that politicians are not accountable to anyone other than their party.
So in other words, if you don't like the result of a referendum, just hold it again and again until you get the 'right' answer. Then never have a referendum again. This is democracy?
And a ministry is a government department not a committee.
I would have thought that slow moving blimps would be much easier to navigate around than fast-moving planes.
I haven't been to a library in well over a decade, yet still read quite frequently, so that last line in the article is meaningless.