The Old Folks Home

[hennible]

Yup sounds like Finland sounds Canada...

 

[perchie.girl]

You'll have to start a third party, the Bama Party. "Everyone has the right to a beer in their arms"

LOL.... There are several parties.... since we are not talking politics I have to admit I don't vote. And I will discuss why through PM if anyone is interested.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_parties_in_the_United_States

Whew boy there are more than I realized....

deb

 

[vehve]

No, we're a pretty democratic country too. Or a republic, really. But I think people are a bit too lazy to vote nowadays, and in my opinion, not voting voids your right to complain. I happen to like complaining, so I like voting too.

What's different in Finland compared to the U.S. of A, is that we're part of the EU, which handles a part of legislature, and then we have our own parliament, plus a president who really doesn't have that much real power. And in stead of two parties, we have a multi-party system, where parties work together to form a government that holds the majority of votes, and the rest of the parties form the opposition. At the moment, the government is formed by Kokoomus (the National Coalition Party), SDP (the Social Democratic Party), SFP (the Swedish peoples party), and the Christian Democrats (who are not as extremely religious as the name might suggest). I usually vote for either Kokoomus or SFP.

 

[vehve]

Yeah, but in practice the US doesn't really have more than two parties.

I'm not a big fan of a totally democratic system though. I don't think it would work. First of all, people don't possess the understanding to make informed decisions about each and every thing, and the amount of time it would take would be ridiculous. Although, even with the existing systems, I think you should be subjected to some sort of test about a certain subject to see that you understand it before you're allowed to vote about it. I don't think very many politicians in their seventies are that capable of making informed decisions about legislature regarding the internet, to name one subject.

*Edit* And I mean the people elected should understand what they vote about. Even ignorant people should have the right to vote for a representative for themselves.

 

[bamadude]

Alot of people go to the polls and vote entirely democrat or entirely republican without having a clue about the individual candidates or their views.

 

[tntchix]

My mom and I had that very discussion, bama. She says, it's just what I've always done. My response: why? Zero reaction.

Convo over, I guess.

 

[vehve]

Yeah, but even they have a right to be represented. Of course, some might say that in stead of an age limit to vote, a test of understanding would be more fair, but that would present a whole lot of other problems. If you're not qualified to make decisions about who makes decisions, do you have to follow their decisions? With an age limit it's easier; the law provides certain special legislature to protect the rights of minors, since they are deemed too young to vote yet, as well as too young to be seen as adults in a trial.

Wisher, I'm sorry for making the thread go into a talk about politics again, don't hit me.

 

[hennible]

Hit him wisher hit him hard!

 

[perchie.girl]

Ok for those of you who have kids.... Betsy is a friend of mine and she just published her first children's book.

And she self published through Amazon.... I read the rough draft its delightful and full of history....

Popsy in Versailles


https://www.createspace.com/4964111


Createspace is Amazons publishing site... The book is offered in three types.... full color hard bound black and white hardbound and also for Kindle


I am writing a book myself and am very interested in this method of publishing.

deb

 

[hennible]

Very cool deb, I have to check that out... The book and the publishing method