“You know, we don’t live in a democracy because a democracy is two wolves and a lamb deciding what’s for dinner. OK? It’s not just majority rule. It’s a constitutional republic. The founders set that up because they followed the biblical admonition of what a civil society is supposed to look like. What’s happened, Alex, …
Well, we’re both. But if you had to pick just one, Republic is probably more informative than Democracy since citizens rarely actually vote for laws and usually just vote for representatives. The correct term is a combination of the two: democratic republic. Wikipedia uses the term “Federal presidential constitutional republic,” which I think conveys it pretty well, though I’d prefer the term “democratic” somewhere in that word salad.
Sure, the GOP absolutely twists definitions to suit their goals. You can see something similar with Democrats calling Republicans “fascists,” so the problem is political theater.
That’s a separate discussion from educating people on what the terms actually mean. We should be fighting misinformation on all fronts.
Maybe, but it’s applied so liberally (ha!) that it starts to lose its meaning. I worry that a significant portion of the population doesn’t actually know what fascism means, so it’s starting to lose its impact.
I’m saying the term “fascist” is used for pretty much any policy the left doesn’t like, such as abortion restrictions, spending cuts, etc.
Refusing to honor the results of an election is fascist. Passing policies that the left doesn’t like isn’t fascist. However, labeling conservatives as “fascist” is politically convenient, in much the same way as labeling progressives as “socialists” is politically convenient. I worry that the public doesn’t actually understand what those terms mean, so calling out actual fascism or socialism is an issue.
Well, we’re both. But if you had to pick just one, Republic is probably more informative than Democracy since citizens rarely actually vote for laws and usually just vote for representatives. The correct term is a combination of the two: democratic republic. Wikipedia uses the term “Federal presidential constitutional republic,” which I think conveys it pretty well, though I’d prefer the term “democratic” somewhere in that word salad.
The main point is that GOP is starting to use this as justification to prevent people from electing their representatives.
Sure, the GOP absolutely twists definitions to suit their goals. You can see something similar with Democrats calling Republicans “fascists,” so the problem is political theater.
That’s a separate discussion from educating people on what the terms actually mean. We should be fighting misinformation on all fronts.
When most of a party is literally pushing to overthrow the popular vote and instate an unelected autocrat, it’s ok to call it fascist.
Maybe, but it’s applied so liberally (ha!) that it starts to lose its meaning. I worry that a significant portion of the population doesn’t actually know what fascism means, so it’s starting to lose its impact.
What else would you call it?
This isn’t a teenager calling dad a fascist for grounding them, the GOP is literally taking pages out of the historical fascism playbook.
I’m saying the term “fascist” is used for pretty much any policy the left doesn’t like, such as abortion restrictions, spending cuts, etc.
Refusing to honor the results of an election is fascist. Passing policies that the left doesn’t like isn’t fascist. However, labeling conservatives as “fascist” is politically convenient, in much the same way as labeling progressives as “socialists” is politically convenient. I worry that the public doesn’t actually understand what those terms mean, so calling out actual fascism or socialism is an issue.
This take is stupidity.