[News] Sultan of Oman - RIP

[teammelli]

Do they have democracy in Oman?

What does "democracy" mean?
Why is "democracy" considered a litmus test?
People around the world come from so many different backgrounds, walks of life, creeds. Why should one political system be applied to everyone worldwide?
Would "democracy" work the same in a globalized, developed nation that can deliver individual candidate messages to the general population through TV, internet, etc as it would in a country like Afghanistan, where 75% of the population is illiterate, 70% of the rural population has no electricity access, many are simple animal-herders with no knowledge of political or economic issues, and tribal ties run thicker than blood?
Lastly, the United States is known around the world as a "democracy" but functionally your vote only makes a difference if you live in certain counties in Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Florida and Wisconsin. Several presidents have been "elected" through this "democratic" process despite losing the popular vote quite heavily. And why can faithless electors cast their elector presidential vote for someone other that the person that was voted for by the people, thus nullifying thousands of votes?
So again, what does "democracy" mean and why is it good for all peoples?

 

[sydney]

What does "democracy" mean?
Why is "democracy" considered a litmus test?
People around the world come from so many different backgrounds, walks of life, creeds. Why should one political system be applied to everyone worldwide?
Would "democracy" work the same in a globalized, developed nation that can deliver individual candidate messages to the general population through TV, internet, etc as it would in a country like Afghanistan, where 75% of the population is illiterate, 70% of the rural population has no electricity access, many are simple animal-herders with no knowledge of political or economic issues, and tribal ties run thicker than blood?
Lastly, the United States is known around the world as a "democracy" but functionally your vote only makes a difference if you live in certain counties in Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Florida and Wisconsin. Several presidents have been "elected" through this "democratic" process despite losing the popular vote quite heavily. And why can faithless electors cast their elector presidential vote for someone other that the person that was voted for by the people, thus nullifying thousands of votes?
So again, what does "democracy" mean and why is it good for all peoples?

democracy is just a word , we may very well find that there are happy and unhappy people living all over the planet under systems of communism, republicanism or in apparent democracies....... the part of the world where live has been driven by rampant capitalism for most of the last 25 years with public assets being sold by govt. to foreign investors.......the result of this is erosion of pay rates and working conditions and wholesale environmental degradation, the results of which are now plain to see.

 

[goldstone]

Ok then, Swansman, Wikipedia aside...

What happens to gay people in Oman?

The Sultan was allegedly of this persuasion.

 

[Mr Putdown]

Never seen the police knock down a shack.

Dale Farm?

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Dale Farm?

That was the local council that did that - not the police. And to be fair it was a little bigger than one single shack - it was a settlement.

 

[Mr Putdown]

That was the local council that did that - not the police. And to be fair it was a little bigger than one single shack - it was a settlement.

 

[PILTDOWN MAN]

View attachment 119061

Completely irrelevant to my posts regarding Swanherbert. He loves to tell everyone how it is and he’s never even set foot here.

 

[Swansman]

Completely irrelevant to my posts regarding Swanherbert. He loves to tell everyone how it is and he’s never even set foot here.

Maybe you can enlighten me by giving me some examples of current shanty towns built by homeless people in the UK and ignored or assisted by councils and police.

 

[PILTDOWN MAN]

Maybe you can enlighten me by giving me some examples of current shanty towns built by homeless people in the UK and ignored or assisted by councils and police.

Really? Do you know I couldn't be bothered chap.

 

[RossyG]

This is one hell of a weird thread, where democracy is considered no more desirable than a dictatorship and where shanty towns are a sign of progress.

 

[Swansman]

Really? Do you know I couldn't be bothered chap.

I know that "couldnt be bothered" and "couldnt because I dont know anything" is pretty synonymous in your case.

 

[PILTDOWN MAN]

I know that "couldnt be bothered" and "couldnt because I dont know anything" is pretty synonymous in your case.

WOW. What a complete tw@t you are. You appear to love annoying people.

In truth looking at most of your posts you know the square root of f@uk all

 

[Swansman]

WOW. What a complete tw@t you are. You appear to love annoying people.

In truth looking at most of your posts you know the square root of f@uk all

Not half as much as people love being annoyed. And I often use arguments or facts, which of course is incredibly annoying to some. Sure I could do it the way of this trigaaar fella, sitting on my imaginary high horse and make belittleing little smileys and comments all over the board to show my equally imaginary superiority without actually saying jack shit, or do it your way and pretend "I cant be bothered" while really saying "I dont know what the **** I'm talking about". I could do that but in my world arguments are nice regardless if they are good or bad, wrong or right.

As for me not knowing anything - entirely possible, but facts and good arguments would make me know more. In this example you have stated that if you build a shack somewhere, the police (obviously commanded by councils etc) wouldnt tear down a shack built by homeless people without permit. I want you to back that statement up. I want you to give me examples that prove me wrong. Is that annoying? Possibly, but its also a corner stone in this "discussing" thing we're supposedly doing.

 

[PILTDOWN MAN]

Not half as much as people love being annoyed. And I often use arguments or facts, which of course is incredibly annoying to some. Sure I could do it the way of this trigaaar fella, sitting on my imaginary high horse and make belittleing little smileys and comments all over the board to show my equally imaginary superiority without actually saying jack shit, or do it your way and pretend "I cant be bothered" while really saying "I dont know what the **** I'm talking about". I could do that but in my world arguments are nice regardless if they are good or bad, wrong or right.

As for me not knowing anything - entirely possible, but facts and good arguments would make me know more. In this example you have stated that if you build a shack somewhere, the police (obviously commanded by councils etc) wouldnt tear down a shack built by homeless people without permit. I want you to back that statement up. I want you to give me examples that prove me wrong. Is that annoying? Possibly, but its also a corner stone in this "discussing" thing we're supposedly doing.

You seem to get a lot of annoyed people resounding to you. Lets leave there.

 

[teammelli]

This is one hell of a weird thread, where democracy is considered no more desirable than a dictatorship

False binary choice. No one is arguing this.

Also comparing Qaboos’s Oman as a “dictatorship” to Qaddafi’s Libya or Saddam’s Iraq is not honest.