Politics (formerly Election 2012)

[Dantriges]

Dantriges

Heh, well first our smallville schools generally outperform our inner city schools, as do private schools out perform public schools with out all that government oversight.  The reasons for that isn't purely a red/blue urban/suburban thing, but my point is merely that there's not a problem there to be solved by the feds. I'm also not suggesting that the Fed has no role at all, merely that the bulk of these sorts of things are almost always better handles locally where there is more accountability and agility.

Ah k, heard that your public school system is pretty bad. Yeah probably strengthening local management will be better.

Also, that tax system you joked about, is exactly what we do in fact have.  Our states don't send money to the feds.  The feds tax the people and then disburse that money to the states.  The states tax the people too, but generally keep it or distribute it to lower levels of gov.  The state I live in doesn't even have an income tax, so I don't even file state taxes.  I still pay them of course, just differently than I do federal.

Ah ok.

What I was getting at about the programs being able to be run at the state level if the fed disappeared, is that the heavy federal level is not needed and again, often simply gets in the way.  Obviously they need the money from the feds in the current system, but (and I thought this was obvious) if the fed wasn't taking that money in the first place, then the states could collect what they need and all would be fine, in fact better.

So the idea is that you change your federation to a confederacy model (I mean confederation in general, not the civil war one). Ok, would be probably affecting your foreign involvement if you transfer power from the central to the states. Yeah I assume it´s intend that the fed will handle foreign affairs but I could imagine that changes in other areas like control over the budget, more input from states will change that. Some would say, fine or even celebrate. Wonder how US citizens and the rest of the world will see that in a few years/decades.

You can look at lots of regulations on these programs and other things like the farm bill come to mind, and it's not hard to see how the fed is likely doing more harm than good.  It's at times well intentioned, but we have a big problem with lobbying and especially legislative district vote manipulation, and by concentrating so much power among such a small group of people that are also abstracted away from accountability, it's just going to get worse.  That's pretty much a universal human truth.

Pretty much, IMO most western democracies have changed into oligarchies some time ago.

[Klaudandus]

How nice of Belgium... really!
http://news.yahoo.com/deaf-twins-going- ... ories.html

[Sagara]

Yeah, the popular reaction to euthanasia is really much more mild around here.

The real opposition group that exist is either broken (the Church, and CD-V, the supposedly traditionalist party), or focused on something else (the North/South divide is THE hot topic - yes, we want to divide a country around the size of New York. Don't ask.)

[Klaudandus]

Can US Citizens go to Belgium to get euthanized? Just curious~ (Planning ahead of time, since all of my family has died before hitting 70 and of cancer)

[Sagara]

I've never had the situation happen close to me, thank God o_O

[Fridmarr]

Doesn't Oregon have a "death with dignity" law?

[Klaudandus]

Hmm... ok *adds Oregon to states to visit*

Nah, seriously... my family has lemon genes... we came broken from factory... aunt with breast cancer, mom with cervical cancer, uncle with brain tumor, my zeyde (grandpa) with colon cancer, grandma with lung cancer (nonsmoker)

I'm betting I'll get either prostate, leukemia, osteomyeloma or stomach cancer.

[bldavis]

Doesn't Oregon have a "death with dignity" law?

yes, unless something changed that i missed living here for the past 25+ years

[Fridmarr]

I believe that we (Washington) have one too. Though it's hard to keep it straight as this stuff tends to make several appearances on the ballot.

[Klaudandus]

I know this is old: “If your science gives you a result that you don't like, pass a law saying that the result is illegal. Problem solved.”
http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colber ... nk-or-swim

http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/2 ... ?p=1&tc=pg

[Amirya]

Yes, Oregon does have death with dignity, but it's not a matter of just packing a bag for a last visit. I don't have all the details on hand, but I do know you do have to have established residency before you can even be considered.

[Klaudandus]

Ok, Belgium it is then.

[bldavis]

lol i was gonna say are you sure you want to move here just for that?

[Fridmarr]

Pretty much, IMO most western democracies have changed into oligarchies some time ago.

That's probably true, it certainly seems that it is in the US. Isn't that a bad thing though? In a world with technological advances like blogging, social media, crowd sourcing etc. that ought to be diminishing, but it isn't.

Given our broader political context and the free market system that it sits on, that result is the inevitable outcome of concentrating more power at the federal level. The weird thing is that culturally there's been a shift here. I'm old enough to remember when folks felt the same way about big gov't as they do about big business, and for good reason. These days big gov't is preached like it's not only the best solution for everything but the only solution. You can see great examples of that in this thread. The ultimate irony there is that it's even touted as the solution to this very problem which in reality it only exacerbates.

[Fivelives]

Oregon, Montana and Washington require 6 months of residency and signed affidavits from doctors declaring you terminal within 6 months (so you have to plan ahead - when you've only got a year left, that's when you move. Or get residency established somehow at least) as part of their right to die laws. They also have to pronounce you of sound mind.