Hat tip Seraphic Secret.
Lots of people like to throw out the terms fascism/fascist. What do they really mean? What's the history? Listen to this short explanation from Prager University.
Showing posts with label fascist. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fascist. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 13, 2017
Sunday, December 10, 2017
What is Democracy? Define It.
I'm writing this in "theory," not crossing t's and dotting i's and saying how it is or isn't applied today. I hope that you readers will be able to get the meaning by yourselves and respond intelligently in the comments.
In the Senior Citizen Adult Education program I attend in the Ofra Girls High School, we have a class on social issues in cinema. One week they showed us a classic Israeli movie, Sallah Shabati, which has a scene in which the new immigrants in the brand new State of Israel is being introduced to democratic elections. They don't understand the meaning of democracy.
The immigrants depicted are from countries that either never had democratic elections or hadn't for awhile, this being just after World War Two. Somehow they come to the mistaken conclusion that democracy means that everyone can do what they want. Of course I was seething. That's anarchy, not democracy. Obviously they thought that by voting each one can demand what they want.
Democracy means that the majority, after a vote, wins. And the minority loses. There is only one winner.
In some cases, that may really be a plurality, not a majority. To simplify the difference between the two terms think in percentages. For a majority, you need over fifty percent, 50%. 50.1% versus 49.9% means that the candidate or referendum, or whatever that got that 50.1% is the only winner. The one who got 49.9% is "history." There are government systems that have a position called "Leader of the Opposition" for the loser who got the most votes, but most countries send the loser off to pasture and history postscripts. A plurality means "the most" in comparison to others. So, if there had been four choices and the results were 26%, 38%, 11% and 25%, the one with 38% would be the winner. Some government systems have a runoff election if nobody gets a majority or more than a certain percentage, like 40%. Then just the two candidates who got the highest amount face each other in elections.
In a law-abiding democracy, the citizens, whether happy or not, accept the result of elections. That is the basic democratic principle I was raised with and educated in. Only in unstable, antidemocratic fascist societies do citizens protest the results of elections.
In the Senior Citizen Adult Education program I attend in the Ofra Girls High School, we have a class on social issues in cinema. One week they showed us a classic Israeli movie, Sallah Shabati, which has a scene in which the new immigrants in the brand new State of Israel is being introduced to democratic elections. They don't understand the meaning of democracy.
The immigrants depicted are from countries that either never had democratic elections or hadn't for awhile, this being just after World War Two. Somehow they come to the mistaken conclusion that democracy means that everyone can do what they want. Of course I was seething. That's anarchy, not democracy. Obviously they thought that by voting each one can demand what they want.
Democracy means that the majority, after a vote, wins. And the minority loses. There is only one winner.
In some cases, that may really be a plurality, not a majority. To simplify the difference between the two terms think in percentages. For a majority, you need over fifty percent, 50%. 50.1% versus 49.9% means that the candidate or referendum, or whatever that got that 50.1% is the only winner. The one who got 49.9% is "history." There are government systems that have a position called "Leader of the Opposition" for the loser who got the most votes, but most countries send the loser off to pasture and history postscripts. A plurality means "the most" in comparison to others. So, if there had been four choices and the results were 26%, 38%, 11% and 25%, the one with 38% would be the winner. Some government systems have a runoff election if nobody gets a majority or more than a certain percentage, like 40%. Then just the two candidates who got the highest amount face each other in elections.
In a law-abiding democracy, the citizens, whether happy or not, accept the result of elections. That is the basic democratic principle I was raised with and educated in. Only in unstable, antidemocratic fascist societies do citizens protest the results of elections.
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| Here I am voting in Israeli Elections. (photo by Linda Fairman) |
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
American Bully-Wimps versus Israeli IDF Veterans
Even Israeli leftist media showed disgust at the American slurs, who's a "chicken?" on our Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
Obama and Kerry hate Bibi, because he is what they aren't. He is more intelligent and knowledgeable, and he was a real soldier in the top unit in an army known for its personal bravery. As you know I have plenty of complaints about Netanyahu's policies, but for a foreign government to hurl such immature, gutter-like accusations at a Prime Minister of a country they claim to hold as an ally is the epitome of childish anti-diplomacy.
And for the gazillionth time, the Americans are trying to force Israel to agree to their policy. This is not what negotiating is. The Obama Government is a bunch of dictatorial, fascist bullies, not democratic, respectful allies. They are antisemites. There is no other explanation for such behavior.
Obama and Kerry hate Bibi, because he is what they aren't. He is more intelligent and knowledgeable, and he was a real soldier in the top unit in an army known for its personal bravery. As you know I have plenty of complaints about Netanyahu's policies, but for a foreign government to hurl such immature, gutter-like accusations at a Prime Minister of a country they claim to hold as an ally is the epitome of childish anti-diplomacy.
And for the gazillionth time, the Americans are trying to force Israel to agree to their policy. This is not what negotiating is. The Obama Government is a bunch of dictatorial, fascist bullies, not democratic, respectful allies. They are antisemites. There is no other explanation for such behavior.
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