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Are Americans Still Capable of Self-Government?

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Posted By: Garnet, 1/23/2023 1:03:41 AM

In a 1789 letter to the British philosopher Richard Price, Thomas Jefferson observed that “wherever the people are well informed they can be trusted with their own government.” By that standard, it’s no longer clear that the American electorate is equipped for the task. Jefferson was, of course, an ardent advocate of a free press whose primary function would be to provide the voters with enough information about the government’s actions to assess the soundness of its policies. Unfortunately, it’s unlikely that he would dignify today’s corporate media with the appellation “free press.”

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Reply 1 - Posted by: Catherine 1/23/2023 1:07:15 AM (No. 1385161)
We're fine. It's the politicians in Washington who get there by stealing the election then decide to destroy the country. The rest of us are fine, tho.
13 people like this.

Reply 2 - Posted by: chumley 1/23/2023 1:52:26 AM (No. 1385163)
No. Not when half the country is in favor of killing inconvenient babies, taxing everyone else into oblivion, restricting everyone else's behavior and regularly and knowingly votes for criminals and pedophiles. Its pretty much over. i think the next stage of our failure is a despot.
13 people like this.

Reply 3 - Posted by: coldoc 1/23/2023 5:00:32 AM (No. 1385175)
No. When a majority votes for a senile known pedophile , plagiarist and criminal they are voting their own demise.
9 people like this.

Reply 4 - Posted by: petrichor 1/23/2023 6:12:40 AM (No. 1385190)
I can't imagine this country without the internet. Believing only the major broadcast networks, NYT, WP and major newspapers people would only get half the story; It would be a pandemic of ignorance. As it is, it's a continual uphill battle that will probably doom this country; It's a good time to be in your 70's.
7 people like this.

Reply 5 - Posted by: Rich323 1/23/2023 6:12:50 AM (No. 1385191)
Our law was based on a God fearing people or at least those who had a conscience to do the right thing and respect the will and property of others. Now, over half our population only responds to forced compliance, but that’s not working because the communists have ruined our police presence and response. They have removed the fear of God and police so there is nothing controlling the demented part of our society. They are moving us to totalitarian rule by the iron fist of government. We must reverse both these tenets to survive as a republic.
7 people like this.

Reply 6 - Posted by: F15 Gork 1/23/2023 7:03:27 AM (No. 1385214)
It’s not just a case of the public not being informed, it’s more a case of they dont really care about the truth anymore and probably can’t handle the truth anyway. 50 years of liberal indoctrination has left a big chunk of our population dummer than dirt.
10 people like this.

Reply 7 - Posted by: chagrined 1/23/2023 7:35:55 AM (No. 1385245)
I'm gonna have to say no, Americans are not capable of self governance anymore. I apologize for the pessimism, but am making this comment from what I've seen and experienced with many people over the last 30 years. The commies successfully sabotaged our educational system, took over the now evil media, corrupted our judicial system, and bought off a whole ****load of low watt bulbs in Congress and in our massively bloated and unaccountable bureaucracy. They've also succeeded in demolishing morals which in turn has rendered a large chunk of our society godless. Cataclysmic occurrences would have to take place for us to even begin to return to a constitutional republic.
4 people like this.

Reply 8 - Posted by: Clinger 1/23/2023 8:22:20 AM (No. 1385269)
Sadly this article begs the larger question; Are humans capable of self governance or are we a species incapable of managing our own affairs and dependent on a handful of statistical outliers gifted with rare abilities? And if the latter is true, by what process is that outlier set identified? Does that rare talent also come with high morals and integrity to not take advantage? Rubbish, humans must either surrender to the oppression of the most ruthless or find a way to manage their own affairs and fend off the would be tyrants. We succeeded at that so well we drifted into a false narrative of the world and human behavior. As if somehow we evolved as a species and we can tear down the fences and guardrails that held the evil at bay, both the religious and constitutional structures. If the answer is No today it will again become Yes for the survivors as we re-learn the horrors of totalitarian control.
5 people like this.

Reply 9 - Posted by: smokincol 1/23/2023 8:59:58 AM (No. 1385291)
that is a silly question. of course we are but it all depends on eliminating the lobbyists, communists and jelly spined politicians and others from our representative process
4 people like this.

Reply 10 - Posted by: bad-hair 1/23/2023 9:58:31 AM (No. 1385342)
Ditto #1 I can find information. It may take some work and digging but I'll find it. Some voters simply don't dig. Others are fortunately too lazy to vote.
2 people like this.

Reply 11 - Posted by: Are You Serious 1/23/2023 3:26:01 PM (No. 1385586)
No. When 50% of the populace vote for Democrats....and 41% think Joe Biden is doing a good job, then it is time for the nation to be divided....one part for intelligent people, the other half for Democrats.
2 people like this.

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