Democracy?

Postby xtc » Tue Nov 06, 2012 6:21 pm

Help me here. As an Englishman, I've been encouraged to believe that Americans don't understand the concept of queing (?standing in line?).
They seem to be getting an awful lot of conductive education in the concept if they expect to be allowed to vote.
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Re: Democracy?

Postby jonny86 » Tue Nov 06, 2012 7:35 pm

According to Hitchhiker's Guide, it's not fair for Brits to poke fun at Americans ability to stand in line. You guys are pros. You never see Tiger Woods lecturing people on the public courses about how they suck at hitting balls.

Re: Democracy?

Postby Kyle » Tue Nov 06, 2012 7:48 pm

I have to admit, I don't understand either post on this thread. What don't Americans understand about waiting in lines?

Re: Democracy?

Postby cloud » Tue Nov 06, 2012 11:20 pm

Kyle wrote:I have to admit, I don't understand either post on this thread. What don't Americans understand about waiting in lines?


Well, you see....over here in England it is stereotypical that we will wait for ages in a queue for stuff, and for nearly anything. if it involves waiting then people normally form a queue and everyone else instantly know about it without being told...

Now, this is true.... but our stereotypical view of amaricans is nearly the opesit......I guess he is asking is that a true representation of amaricans or not?
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Re: Democracy?

Postby Nuclearo » Wed Nov 07, 2012 12:10 am

Kyle wrote:I have to admit, I don't understand either post on this thread. What don't Americans understand about waiting in lines?

They just don't understand what a linear equation is like. It's more like a space filling curve in both America and its colony Israel.
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Re: Democracy?

Postby Games_Bond » Wed Nov 07, 2012 3:10 am

We are good at two things in this country... queing and moaning. We like queing so we can have a damn good moan about it :wink:

Apparently (and I have no first hand experience to back this up), Italians are the worst - if they see something they want, they go for it, and to hell with everyone else. I was with some Scottish friends in an undisclosed country recently where we had to que for food; we literally had to stand shoulder to shoulder and shuffle along as one human snake in order to stop foreigners (I won't say from which country) barging in. Of course, the foreigners were nice people notwithstanding the fact that they just didn't know how to wait their turn, which suggests that the ability to que is a cultural thing.

There was a good point made on the BBC's coverage of the Presidential Election last night about people queing for three hours (Americans must have some idea how to do it then!) - did that mean it was a great Democracy that its citizens were willing to wait that long to vote, or did it mean it was so poorly organised that people had to que that long? Could be both, of course.

Re: Democracy?

Postby cloud » Wed Nov 07, 2012 8:56 am

Games_Bond wrote:We are good at two things in this country... queing and moaning. We like queing so we can have a damn good moan about it :wink:


You stole that of 'Mock the Week' .........

Anyway, beans their is a lot of amaricans I wont be too offensive as I could be.... But the 3 hour long wait is probably a bit of both. A select few really wanted to vote but it was poorly implemented so they had to wait so long in what should of been a 5 minute wait.
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Re: Democracy?

Postby TUfriend » Wed Nov 07, 2012 10:11 pm

Because Americans are impatient. There were 4 hour gas lines in NJ last week because of Sandy and people were driving to the front of the line expecting to be let in. Also, NJ drivers do not understand that blocking the intersection should never be allowed. I don't want to cut you in line, I just want to turn right into my neighborhood!
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Re: Democracy?

Postby Kyle » Thu Nov 08, 2012 8:35 pm

Four hours is a long, long time to wait for gas, though people shouldn't be cutting in line. I'm surprised, but thankful, no one has been shot, stabbed, or run over over this (to my knowledge). I also wonder where these lines go. There isn't enough room at any gas station I know of for very many cars to line up.

I've never waited more than a minute or two to vote. It probably helps we don't have very long ballots here. I heard the ones in Miami, where the long waits were, were 5 pages long. Apparently they're rewriting the entire legal code down there.

I'll admit I don't like standing in lines, but it depends on the circumstances. Thirty minutes to buy groceries is ridiculous. Thirty minutes to get into some big event is more acceptable.

Re: Democracy?

Postby TUfriend » Thu Nov 08, 2012 8:44 pm

Kyle wrote:Four hours is a long, long time to wait for gas, though people shouldn't be cutting in line. I'm surprised, but thankful, no one has been shot, stabbed, or run over over this (to my knowledge). I also wonder where these lines go. There isn't enough room at any gas station I know of for very many cars to line up.


This was right after the hurrican while NJ was still in shock and a lot of roads were closed making gas scarce. The right lane was the line and the left lane(s) were for driving.
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Re: Democracy?

Postby Kyle » Thu Nov 08, 2012 8:59 pm

Yeah I know it was right after the hurricane. It's still a long time to wait.

But I didn't know that's how they did the lines.

Re: Democracy?

Postby drawscore » Fri Nov 09, 2012 1:09 am

Democracy can best be described as two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for dinner. (The USA is a constitutional republic, not a democracy)

Drawscore

Re: Democracy?

Postby TUfriend » Fri Nov 09, 2012 3:53 am

My social studies teachers have always called it a democratic republic. Because we vote on people to represent us in government.
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Re: Democracy?

Postby xtc » Fri Nov 09, 2012 7:53 am

So do we but we are a constitutional monarchy.
Boxer shorts are cool,
but little speedos rule!

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Re: Democracy?

Postby the other one » Sat Nov 10, 2012 2:52 pm

drawscore wrote:Democracy can best be described as two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for dinner. (The USA is a constitutional republic, not a democracy)

Drawscore


Your example isn't that good, because there are fundamental rights and so the wolves wouldn't be able to eat that lamb legally.

I can say a true democracy doesn't exist at the moment. But I agree with your description of the USA. (Sorry my Mistake, just ignore this sentence. edited 13.11.12)
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