Biggie

I was just reading the Bible. Talk about a preachy book. Everyone's a sinner... except for that guy.

I don't see what the fuss is about. Canada lost its sovereignty years ago.

Alaska is north of the 49th.

I really feel the urge to kill a kitten at the moment. Ah, thank god for internet pornography.

How do they solve problems of collective action? (especially in larger societies)

Well, instead of breaking down their platform and critiquing it, I think it's easier for me to just write that I am against big government, and that's exactly what the Greens would create. It's not common sense to me and if it's the future of the world, then please stop it because I want off. ;) That said... ...this is the only party I've found to include Senate reform in their platform, so mad props to them.

Don't you have classes? ;) I wouldn't waste my time going even if I lived in Washington. Where do you go to school?

I think you're on to something. Though, I think it may have more to do with lack of adequate representation in Canada of the west and maritimes. Ontario and Quebec basically run things. And a government of a small geographic area can better represent the will of the population, than of a large area. To the French people, for example, the government of France is far more democratic than the European Union parliament.

Yeah, I've read quite a few of their writings. Madison wrote about that a fair bit, if I remember. But if you have 2000 people all voicing their opinion on where to build the new school, how will they ever co-operate? I mean, it is possible in a very small group of people to come to an agreement, but can several thousand people do so? So many individual interests would be competing with each other. And what if there is a crisis in the community that requires swift, decisive action? You can't convene 2000 people and expect results. One of the reasons the US strengthened its federal government in the Constitution was in response to armed uprisings which it couldn't quickly suppress.

Wouldn't that just be a democracy?

Right on the dotted line, mate. ;)

In a world government, there'd be a rather large democratic deficit, wouldn't there? It would be too large for any effective popular control of its decisions. It would probably be too remote and quite complicated for most people. Probably a tyranny. I don't believe anarchist communities could function effectively for long, either. The physically strong would bully the weak. There needs to be a central -though limited- government to protect the rights of all in a society. I know you asked to defend the status quo, and all I've done is briefly stated a few of my objections to the alternatives you mentioned. Off the top of my head I'm not sure why I support the Westphalian system. It leads to rivalry, but also competition (and by extension ingenuity) between states. Bad or good, depending on your perspective. I suppose also if the globe is divided into smaller governments not subject to any higher authority, they can be better accountable to their people's will and protect their rights. As I said, a world government would probably border on tyranny. I'll need to think about this some more. The reasons they went back to the drawing board and wrote a new Constitution are a wee bit more complex than that. You make it sound like government control is needed to keep the people in check.

well thats the difference between Conservative/Liberal and NDP/Green. The former are career politicians working for themselves, while the later are concerned citizens in it for change. And that's one of the biggest bullshit statements I've ever heard. ;)

The NDP, Bloc or Green party will never govern Canada. Fact.

Not going to continue this pointless discussion, champ. It's apparent you think the Dept. of Homeland Security exists only to conjure up fear in some scheme out of 1984 to control the population, and that people shouldn't be informed as to what to do in the event of a terrorist attack because it wouldn't do any good anyways. Repeat uber-wank

You kill me. So, you don't want to go after the people who want to kill Americans. And you don't want people to know what to do if their city happens to be attacked, because this would be fear mongering? Christ. Statistically, plane crashes are rare, so why bother telling passengers where the oxygen masks are, right? They might get afraid...

There are people out there bent on killing Americans. It's not an Orwellian fabrication. If you've been to http://www.ready.gov/index.html it's basically just telling people to have a first aid kit and have supplies set aside, yadda yadda, which are a good idea in any possible emergency. Would you prefer the government tell people that everything is hunky dory?

How many of you have a plan in case your house in on fire or other emergencies? Are you paralysed with fear because you've made a plan? uber-wank

*picks up phone, calls CNN, FOX news, MSNBC*

Are you a male or female, Brooke? Because if you don't have a penis, it won't work.

Probably my email. I asked him if he wanted to increase the size of his penis for a low, low price of only $20 a month. ;)

Neither site is working for me. What addresses are you going to?

He was against it, wasn't he?

America is sinking? Shit.

Jesus fucking Christ.