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[Paxiecrunchle]

More like this is why a newly democratic country should never fucking ever become a presidential democracy. When you've got no strong democratic tradition and you opt for a system where your head of state and head of government are the same person, it shouldn't be a goddamn surprise when they start backsliding towards authoritarianism.

The U.S. is really goddamn lucky that our early presidents had enough integrity to avoid concentrating too much power, and that Washington had the foresight to establish the unofficial two term limit.

This is why a newly democratic country should never fucking ever become a democratic country.

I'm not good with jokes and sarcasm, is this one of those?

[Cthulhu]

Of course, you know I'd never dare speak heresy against the just and holy order of democracy.

[feelotraveller]

Wait, don't the people have to decide what democracy is?

[MonkeyHead]

Wait, don't the people have to decide what democracy is?

Yes, but people being people, they literally never agree.

[Cthulhu]

Wait, don't the people have to decide what democracy is?

Sure, but then they'll pick a dictatorship, which is why you have to groom the process a bit.

[Karnewarrior]

I like Africa, and have high hopes for the African Peoples in general, so I'm posting to watch.

[feelotraveller]

Sure, but then they'll pick a dictatorship, which is why you have to groom the process a bit.

Whatever that is, it ain't no democracy.

Yes, but people being people, they literally never agree.

I'd agree with that... 

[IcyTea31]

Sure, but then they'll pick a dictatorship, which is why you have to groom the process a bit.

Whatever that is, it ain't no democracy.

Ah, but you see, it is the purest form of democracy: one person, one vote. The People's will crystallizes into that one person who casts that one vote in their best interests. /s

[Cruxador]

Wait, don't the people have to decide what democracy is?

Sure, but then they'll pick a dictatorship, which is why you have to groom the process a bit.

It's been known since the days of Plato (who published it in The Republic) that democracy is the natural predecessor of tyranny. We now have some refined methods of democracy which delay the inevitable, but that doesn't change that it's inevitable.

[Sheb]

But then tyranny is the natural predecessor of democracy.

[Paxiecrunchle]

Can this thread please return to a story directly related to Africa in some way? Talking about wether democracy is a good thing or not is fine, but it kind of takes the fun out of stuff like this: http://www.thedailybeast.com/north-koreas-latest-crime-pushing-african-rhinos-toward-extinction

Let me know if I should move this to the DPRK thread.

[feelotraveller]

Personally I think that suggesting that Africans should decide the form that democracy takes in Africa is directly related to African politics.

[Paxiecrunchle]

It seemed more like it was devolving into "what is democracy anyway?" So I apologize.

[Cruxador]

Well, there is a pretty big gap between the high level discussion (like Plato) and actual concrete policy that could be applicable to actual nations.

[martinuzz]

In Somalia, a truck loaded with explosives detonated in front of a hotel in the nation's capital, Mogadishu, near a busy crossing with ministries, shops, and restaurants.

At least 230 people were killed, and 275 injured, making it the most lethal terrorist attack in the country so far.
Government has stated that al Shabaab is behind the attacks, and has called upon the people to donate blood at the overcrowded hospitals. The president himself joined the queues to donate blood.

Rescue services have been searching the collapsed debris of buildings all day to find victims buried under them.
Many of the victims can not be identified due to the force of the explosion.

2 hours after the attack, another car bomb went off in the city, but no one was injured despite heavy damage to buildings.