[Archangelsk]

Fred's two-fisted style may not appeal to everyone, but he does have a way of cutting through the BS.

[TomServo]

Bump...

[Viking2002]

Yup. I get his columns every Monday. He may be a crank, but when you cut through all the fist-shaking and teeth-gnashing, he makes valid observations about the decline of our culture.

[jolie560]

Fred's a crank, alright--and has some good points.

Like those who are paid to write columns or like those of us who post posts--people will agree with some comments and disagree with others.

That is democracy.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

I think it's rather remarkable that 280,000,000+ people live in as much peace and prosperity as citizens of the United States of America do.

When you have that many people, there is going to be absolute chaos no matter what the theoretical form of government, and the reality will bear very little resemblence to the theoretical.

We're blundering along fairly well, considering that human beings aren't really in control.

Chaos and entropy have the final say.

[o_zarkman44]

Interesting perspective. Unfortunately all too true.
Reversable???? Not without a major change that most people cannot stomach. Our nation has become a organized bunch of wussies, scared to stand up for real change and the sacrifices needed to make change. Political power is not in the elected, but the un-elected.

[BenLurkin]

"(3) Large jurisdictions discourage autonomy. If, say, educational policy were set in small jurisdictions, such as towns or counties, you could buttonhole the mayor and have a reasonable prospect of influencing your children’s schools. If policy is set at the level of the state, then to change it you have to quit your job, marshal a vast campaign costing a fortune, and organize committees in dozens of towns. It isn’t practical. " Truer words were never spoken.

"(1) Free speech does not exist in America. We all know what we can’t say and about whom we can’t say it." Nonsense.

Otherwise: Fred needs to learn to keep his presentation down to five major points. Its easier to follow that way.<

[bigghurtt]

(2) A democracy run by two barely distinguishable parties is not in fact a democracy.

and we don't live in a democracy. we live in a republic. it's sad how few americans understand this.

[muawiyah]

"A ecological candidate may be elected, along with a communist, a racial-separatist, and a libertarian...."

Not a Dime's worth of difference among them either!

[M1thumb]

We only have two parties because they both appeal to the middle non-political, non-informed, "can't we just get along," dolts that are far more numerous than we dare to think.