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[Jackrabbit]

I think they probably find Pax Americana suitably evocative but I'm sure Historians appreciate the suggestion.

[mainiac]

I think people slinging the term Pax Americana around dont understand just how much better off the world is today compared to before.  Countries like China and Russia dont want this system to end.  They're trying to play the game under this system not change the system.  It's not a system that the US military is proping up, it's a system that every major world power is implicitly consenting to.  The squables are just over the details.  But that's just the way politics works.  People ignore when everyone talks about the stuff everyone agrees on and focus on the disagreements.

[4maskwolf]

I think people slinging the term Pax Americana around dont understand just how much better off the world is today compared to before.  Countries like China and Russia dont want this system to end.  They're trying to play the game under this system not change the system.  It's not a system that the US military is proping up, it's a system that every major world power is implicitly consenting to.  The squables are just over the details.  But that's just the way politics works.  People ignore when everyone talks about the stuff everyone agrees on and focus on the disagreements.

Politics.  I try to stay out of it.

I think they probably find Pax Americana suitably evocative but I'm sure Historians appreciate the suggestion.

...Jackrabbit?

[Lagslayer]

Posting to watch.

[Jackrabbit]

I think people slinging the term Pax Americana around dont understand just how much better off the world is today compared to before. 

I never really thought of it as a negative term, myself. Actually I've always thought it sounded kinda cool.

...Jackrabbit?

Hi! I kinda just opened the forums back up on a whim on the train and the thread caught my eye.

[4maskwolf]

I think people slinging the term Pax Americana around dont understand just how much better off the world is today compared to before. 

I never really thought of it as a negative term, myself. Actually I've always thought it sounded kinda cool.

...Jackrabbit?

Hi! I kinda just opened the forums back up on a whim on the train and the thread caught my eye.

Yeah, it's been a while since we've heard from you.  I only really know you through the Funny Quotes thread.

Okay, enough derailment.

[Drunken]

result of a referendum with an 83% turnout and a 95% yes vote held in Crimea asking whether the people wanted to join Russia.

I heard the more you repeat a lie, it becomes true, right?

I especially enjoy how you told him he's misinformed about the realities of the situation then immediately start repeating lies and propaganda disseminated by the Kremlin. It's fun.

I got those number from the wikipedia page. If they are wrong it would be a great help if you could find a more reliable source and also update the wikipedia page. While double checking after reading your post I did look into it further and found alternative estimates. I can not find any sources that dispute that there was a majority yes vote however.

I also find it highly offensive that you call me a liar and a propagandist. Can't you give anyone the benefit of the doubt? Believing wikipedia was an honest mistake and the only numbers anyone here has offered. It is also not inconceivable that a Ukrainian in the Crimea might vote yes, the Kiev government are psychos. Even with the revised estimates it was a yes vote, and no one in the west is denying that. If we are to disregard votes based on low turnout we need to also not recognise any president, senator or congressman in the US, and also the government of the UK is out. In fact, depending on what minimum turnout you accept the majority of democracies are in serious danger.

Rather than accusing me of being a liar perhaps you could submit your own evidence of what is really going on. I don't claim to know any more than what I have read on the sources linked which is not enough to form an informed opinion. Please to keep it on topic also explain why your evidence shows that Germany is in danger from a Russian invasion because that is the point I am disputing here.

[Lagslayer]

Wouldn't surprise me if a great amount of fraud went on given, y'know, Russia. Not to mention people are more inclined to vote for the side that has people standing outside the voting kiosks with guns.

This. That entire process was overrun with Russian soldiers, and all information that came out was controlled by the Russians. It seems foolish to take anything they say at face value.

[Drunken]

Look I know the world is messed up and all modern democracies have major legitimacy issues, especially the US, Russia and China (not a democracy, but also has major legitimacy issues). I will overlook the fact that people are much more keen on regurgitating anti-russian propaganda and less on the other nations with equal amounts of corruption and repression. I would rather stay on topic.

Is it your position that the validity of the referendum in the Crimea has a bearing on the question of whether US defence spending is justified, and if so could you please elaborate on this? What exactly is the link? How many trillions of dollars are required to secure against the threat of Russia's Crimean referendum? Do we need to increase the defence budget still further? Would it be possible to redirect spending from other parts of the budget to save money while still protecting against referenda? Should we borrow more money from China to help finance defending against Russia? Links to sources where I can learn things I don't already know would also be greatly appreciated.

[smjjames]

Higher election turnout would be nice, but I guess people are just apathetic about the system, I dunno.

For those that have mandatory voting, how do those fare? Like turnout and stuff?

[smjjames]

I wonder how much having mandatory voting would help here in the US, but then again, people are probably likely to rebel in some way or another and Australia still managed to elect Tony Abbot.

[Criptfeind]

I think mandatory voting in the US would be a pretty good thing. But it's no where close to actually happening. Since A: It just doesn't really fit in with our culture, forcing people to do things like voting. And B: The parties currently in power want less people voting, not more.

[smjjames]

I thought it was the republicans trying to stop certain sections of the population from voting?

[Il Palazzo]

I think people slinging the term Pax Americana around dont understand just how much better off the world is today compared to before.  Countries like China and Russia dont want this system to end.  They're trying to play the game under this system not change the system.  It's not a system that the US military is proping up, it's a system that every major world power is implicitly consenting to.  The squables are just over the details.  But that's just the way politics works.  People ignore when everyone talks about the stuff everyone agrees on and focus on the disagreements.

Pax Americana does sound highly ironic to my ears. I'm sure people living in countries on the receiving end of US war machine wouldn't use that term.

It's easier to see the world through such rose-tinted glasses when one lives in a place far away from combat zones, but even looking at the frequency of wars we (Poland) got involved since IIWW, I'm much more inclined to say we had Pax Sovietica, while it lasted.

[Sergarr]

Mandatory voting is a terrible idea because voting is a right, not a responsibility.

If one wants to turn voting into responsibility, then we essentially would have "professional voters".