The only difference between the Russian and US system is that instead of having one big party whose interests are entirely separated from the public and which completely crushes any opposition parties, we have two big parties whose interests are entirely separated from the public and which completely crush all opposition parties.
A sham democracy if there ever was one, but that’s because the purpose of indirect democracy is less to decide on policy and more to select a strongman leader that’s most appealing.
The Russian election was “rigged” in that there was only controlled opposition… But this is also not an inherently unique feature. When was the last time a US President was neither Democrat nor Republican?
US politics is absolutely retarded but at least you aren’t going to fall out of a window for criticizing the president.
No, but if you blow the whistle on a US company you might end up suicided.
Oh yea, true but that less about politics and more about capitalist creed. The US also has a police system that seemingly runs on the ritual sacrifice of innumerable black folk and pets but that is also not relevant.
How can you possibly separate politics from capitalist greed. The government represents the class that holds power, and US it’s the capital owning class.
In Russia the olicarchs are directly ruling the country so you can’t criticise them without endangering your life. In the US the capitalist class heavily influences the politics but isnt the one directly ruling the country so you can criticise the politicians all you want. That’s the difference I was pointing out.
I hope you enjoy your freedom of screaming into the void while being exploited.
The US needs ranked choice voting badly, but to say the only difference between the US and Russia is the two party system is just straight up incorrect. Opposition leaders and dissidents do not get regularly assassinated by the government in the US for starters.
Opposition leaders and dissidents do not get regularly assassinated by the government in the US for starters.
Because there’s no need to do it
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_involvement_in_regime_change
The US has done some fucked up shit, no doubt, but that is about messing with foreign countries and has nothing to do with what we’re talking about here: The US internally disappearing and/or killing anyone who speaks out against it.
The son of someone involved in a literal fascist overthrow plot in the 30s became the head of the CIA which takes over governments then the President. His son then stole an election and allowed 9/11 to happen
Nice non-sequitur but that doesn’t excuse anyone of anything.
You live in a fascist country that the CIA literally overthrew the government of then instituted a crisis which ushered in a police state. Lots of people disappear and you don’t know because they run your media. Your country maintains black sites around the world including Guantanamo Bay. Your electrify the balls of people and say welp we tortured some folks. You don’t hear about it because whistleblowers regularly wind up dead. Consider yourself lucky that you are white passing enough or have enough money that you are protected from this and get to live in a bubble.
Death to America
I refer you to my previous comment.
Personally I’d say score voting would make the most sense. Essentially it works like this, you get a list of parties and you vote them 1-5 on how much you agree with them. This changes the whole dynamics as you now aren’t choosing who will rule, but how much you agree with each party ideologically and forcing you to research on their proposed mandate plans. It also serves as sort of an evaluation of how do you think each party has been addressing the country’s issues before the election.
Mathematically, this may not ensure always the most happiness, but it ensures the least unhappiness compared to all current known voting methods (you can easily find research on how this was calculated in many papers on mathematics).
Personally i would also propose returning to the old Roman and the first proposed French republic system of having 2-3 consuls of the most voted for parties and they take turns proposing legislation to a senate that’s a direct seated representation of the voting results.
As an interesting tidbit, the reason we have a president/prime Minister with all the power in most western democracies, is because Napoleon altered the original proposed 3 consul system into a prime consul with all the power then minor ministers because he was aiming to become Emperor and wanted to centralize the power. Our democratic systems are strongly influenced by the first French republic post the French revolution.
The Russian election was “rigged” in that there was only controlled opposition
Incorrect. They were rigged pretty much completely, as some data shows. Something about 30 million fake votes.
I couldn’t get 88% of people to agree on which day of the week it was, much less who should be president.
So is the basis of a “true” democracy something like dumber and less vigilant citizens? Or is it more like whatever “civilised West” is at any point in time?
Lol, I think that nobody outside of Russia has any belief that this was a free and fair election. I mean, even if you don’t count that Putin imprisoned his political ally and killed him.
Navalny was not killed by Putin. Navalny was not even liked that much in Russia. He had lower votes than approval rate for Biden and Trump. We could talk about Assange, though, if you want to get into that debate.
If he was so unpopular, then why did Putin try to assassinate him, then imprison him on fabricated charges with no intent to ever release him? Why couldn’t he just defeat him in a fair election and then ignore him?
- https://www.state.gov/second-anniversary-of-the-poisoning-of-aleksey-navalny/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poisoning_of_Alexei_Navalny#:~:text=Traces of the Novichok nerve,other undisclosed object(s).
- https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/kremlin-critic-alexei-navalny-says-he-has-received-new-criminal-charges-2023-12-01/
- https://www.state.gov/conviction-and-sentencing-of-aleksey-navalny-on-additional-politically-motivated-charges/
- https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/04/europe/navalny-extremism-trial-verdict-russia-intl/index.html
I love how your evidence for Putin trying to assassinate Navalny is just a bunch of western media parroting what US state department says. 😂
I love how all the western polling in Russia before the election shows that Putin has over 80% approval, and now all the western media acts like it’s shocking that he got around that in the election. For example, here’s an example from CNN just a few days ago
But Putin undoubtedly has reaped the rewards of a political landscape tilted dramatically in his favor. The Levada Center, a non-governmental polling organization, consistently reports Putin’s approval rating at over 80% – an eye-popping figure virtually unknown among Western politicians, and a substantial increase on the three-year period before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/14/europe/putin-russia-election-explainer-update-intl/index.html
Absolute clown shit.
I don’t think anyone is acting like it’s shocking. On the contrary, it’s exactly what everyone expected so it’s not a surprise. After all, he’s been Russia’s President for 21 of the past 25 years.
The whole context for this thread is a BBC article throwing shade on the Russian elections.
It’s not hard to get the majority of votes when the real opposition is in jail or dead
The real opposition in Russia is the KPRF who have around 30% support.
