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#1 |
ONE
love, blood, life Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 10,885
Local Time: 01:42 AM
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In a Democracy....
In a Democracy do the citizens have a right to know everything? Or does the nature of the United States being Republic mean we should have faith that the people who represent us are chosing wisely for us?
__________________Peace to all...... |
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#2 |
ONE
love, blood, life Join Date: May 2002
Location: Tempe, Az USA
Posts: 12,856
Local Time: 11:42 PM
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That we elected certain ppl..I think its our way of saying-
__________________"We trust you to handle the affairs of our country".. If they break the law then that is a different issue.. dB9 |
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#3 |
ONE
love, blood, life Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Toronto, Ontario
Posts: 11,782
Local Time: 02:42 AM
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You're using the terms interchangably, which is incorrect. In a democracy, by definition, the people have direct involvement on their own governing. So, yes, in a democracy, citizens do have a right to know everything. In a republic, which is what the United States was founded on, citizens are represented by elected officials who vote for them; hence, the question becomes a bit grayer.
However, in practice, the United States is more of a hybrid democratic republic, perhaps thanks to Progressive activism in the first third of the 20th century. In essence, what I think we have is the inevitable outgrowth of this conflict between the government that the Founding Fathers created--a republic--and the de-facto emergence of democracy. What is different is the American public itself, where there was a high disparity between the education levels of the elected officials and the populace, which was highly incapable of running itself. Even Plato admitted that a democracy was contingent on an educated populace, which was absent in the foundation of the United States. Things have changed, though, and we have many citizens who are smarter than our elected officials. Perhaps as a tribute to our never-ending inquisitiveness, we demand a more active involvement in how our elected officials operate. In theory, our elected officials are supposed to represent their district, but, as we all know, that is often not the case. Partisanship seems to be the name of the game, and the platform that these individuals are elected on are often so vague that we all know it is deceptive. The republic, itself, is becoming a failure, as our elected officials are failing in their duty to their district, primarily to be honest in what they plan on doing in office. Democracy is the natural outgrowth of this distrust, and, as such, that is why citizens do have the right to know the truth, rather than be fed a bunch of lies to protect those in power. Melon |
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#4 |
Rock n' Roll Doggie
FOB Join Date: Oct 2001
Posts: 8,876
Local Time: 06:42 AM
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I think its not correct to say that citizens have the literal right to Know "everything". Historically, to many military operations and lives would have been compromised and lost if, citizens knew everything. If you or I knew everything, then so would the enemy. That would put our security in jeopardy and therefore, our freedom as well.
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#5 | |
ONE
love, blood, life Join Date: May 2002
Location: Tempe, Az USA
Posts: 12,856
Local Time: 11:42 PM
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#6 | |
ONE
love, blood, life Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 10,885
Local Time: 01:42 AM
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#7 | |
ONE
love, blood, life Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 10,885
Local Time: 01:42 AM
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#8 | |
Rock n' Roll Doggie
VIP PASS Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: the ether
Posts: 5,142
Local Time: 02:42 AM
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i don't know that the american people, or the people of any nation, are better off in spite of increasing education levels.
__________________
im the candyman. and the candyman is back. |
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#9 | |
Blue Crack Supplier
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Orange County and all over the goddamn place
Posts: 42,555
Local Time: 11:42 PM
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Let's throw this out, and then run away
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#10 | |
ONE
love, blood, life Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 10,885
Local Time: 01:42 AM
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This is one thing that concerns me. WHen do the citizens have the right to know everything. Is it months, years, decades from the event? My fear is that this can be used to manipulate the people living in the country. I do recognize that in many cases it is important for secrecy. Just concerned. Peace to all. |
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