For democracy to work, complete transparency must be obtained. There must be no hiding behind patriotism, national security, and fear. These catch phrases are a vault for the secrets a government does not want the public to know of. Also due to these phrases, Americans society, while often preaching freedom of speech, in reality practices resentment, hatred, and peer pressure against those who step outside the norm (of what is politically correct). I would thus say no government needs to prohibit the freedom of speech, but only let the people prohibit (more so regulate) speech for them. It has happened so many times in our country’s past, we cannot afford to let this keep happening. For democracy to work, diplomacy must be the first and preferably the only course of action in settling disputes. Democracy cannot be offensive in nature—only defensive. Due to reasons prior, freedoms and liberties (primarily those stemming from privacy) cannot waver in the shadow of fear, and thus democracy is at a severe disadvantage when it comes to warfare—either democracy (liberty) fails, or military security fails. Just as the integrity of a family is tested through hardships, the integrity of our government is tested through decisions made during or related to warfare and economic downtimes. A democratic government thus cannot suddenly revoke civil liberties or rights in lieu of the often vague, “Clear and Present Danger.” And thus, for democracy to work, preemptive strikes cannot occur. A democratic society must lead by example, not retaliation, revenge, or fear. For democracy to work, the freedom of the press must be entirely free of regulation and censorship. The live footage of firefights during the Vietnam War had an immense impact on the outlook of war for those on the home front. The press is vastly more censored (both from corporate, and government), today. We cannot afford to have a censored press, as it holds all the power in shifting the majority of Americans’ view of any issue or event. People (straw man, I know) are gullible, and do not realize the power that manipulation has on their decisions and views. For democracy to work, capitalism must maintain complete separation and segregation from the democratic system. As soon as private funding enters the picture, our potential candidates are primarily only determined by officials promising the majority (the currently diminishing middle class) of Americans false promises, while truly only representing those providing the most money (synonymous with votes) to their campaign. Votes don't get politicians elected, advertising & funding does. So who will get prioritized? For democracy to work, lobbying must be made illegal, or vastly more restricted and regulated. For democracy to work, a form of free election must be in order. An equal amount of taxpayer money must be distributed to the two presidential candidates. Since funding is the primary means of obtaining a position, we limit ourselves on the selection of candidates. Money cannot be a prerequisite in order to obtain or maintain a political position–yet it is. Set up two temporary television channels and websites for these candidates. Debates should be daily, and written correspondence between the two candidates should be a must—the topic voted upon by the public. I say written responses because some people are better at composing their thoughts on paper rather than in speech with millions watching, that is more or less just a game of who is quicker on their feet, not who is more reasonable or knowledgeable. Nominees for the general elections should only obtain their money through local donation from the citizens of their future jurisdiction, or by some other means which would allow absolutely ANY American citizen to run and potentially win—not based on their funding and advertising flash, but by their intelligence, charisma, knowledge, ethos, and promises. In sociology, “random” is defined as everyone having an equal chance and possibility to participate (in an experiment); not every American citizen has an equal chance of running for office. I don't have a perfect answer, but it's apparent something needs changed. For democracy to work, bliss cannot be derived from ignorance. The importance of pursuing the truth and finding information for ones’ self must be emphasized. Everyone is entitled to vote, but not everyone understands for who their vote entitles. For democracy to work, accountability must be exacted out. False campaign promises are a form of false advertisement. Politicians must be held to the same justice system as we, the people, are. Anything else to add? (News seemed to be the only appropriate place to put this; my apologies if not). http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Bald_eagle_landing.jpg added by: Jake_Leonard
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