You see the title.
For example, in England if someone works 37 hours minimum wage, with their pay (after paying for all expenses such as taxes, water, electricity and rent) they earn 5p more than the people on job seekers benefits.
This certainly shouldn't be the case. People on benefits shouldn't earn just as much as someone who works, and we all know this.
But no politician, no prime minister is going to change that. Not because it'll be bad for the country, but simply because doing so would make them lose so many votes they're almost guaranteed to lose the next election. So they don't change something to appease the more lazy section of the population just for votes and to stay in power.
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Edited by M37h3w3: 2/27/2013 7:20:00 PMWhen you 5p you mean 5 pence right? And isn't a pence the English version of the penny? And the drawbacks of democracy are plain to see in US politics.
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Edited by SI19: 2/28/2013 11:36:34 PMThere is 2.49 million unemployed who would recieve dole out of 63 million people, of which 46 million can vote in Britain. (or at least, in the last election) Although 2.49 million is a lot of unemployed, it's not enough to create a huge sway on the votes. 2.49 Mil/ 46 mil is only 5% of the possible votes. The major parties would focus on more pressing matters, such as the recession, banking (at the time) and stuff to do with Afghanistan, which would influence more people to vote for them (including those on benefits) I think politics in general has drawbacks, but individual parts (especially democracy) aren't terrible. The fact that politics can be hypocritical is what gets me, but at least I can say this without being shot or sent to jail without fair trial.
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Relevant
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Honestly? Democracy is THAT bad? The only reason you can speak on a forum about your pathetic political ideologies is because democracy exists in the first place. The rights you have, the possibility that in case you work your ass you can even move social classes and many other things exist because of democracy. So honestly, be quiet for a few moments and think about what you have now and what would you have in case of a dictatorship, imperialism or communism.
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In reality I think democracy was only meant for a very small number of people that was manageable. I think greece started it with a very small population and here in the US it began with a small population at the time. I don't know if you split the government further to give more people an equal voice but with this many people it becomes too diluted. It cycles back to the elite governing the majority which seems to be happening often now.
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Yea for entitlement based societies!
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Edited by Seggi: 2/28/2013 9:16:29 AM[quote](after paying for all expenses such as taxes, water, electricity and rent)[/quote] Uh... Do job seekers not have to pay rent and utilities? And how is that the result of 'democracy' rather than shitty policy? The problem is probably just that the benefits cut off too sharply, or possibly that the minimum wage is too low.
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My biggest problem with democracy is the reciprocal of its greatest benefit; not only do the smartest people in society get an equal voice, but the stupidest, most bigoted people also get an equal voice to the smart people, and thus, this can sometimes lead to social progress being impeded upon in society. For example, maybe if it weren't for democracy, slavery and discriminatory laws toward minorities like Blacks and us Hispanics would have ended faster, since the smart people could have forced change upon the majority bigoted population.
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Clearly the Republicans aren't afraid of losing votes.
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Yurop is in the economic gutter.
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Democracy certainly isn't perfect, but your example is off-point. Welfare programs are necessarily associated with democracy. The biggest flaw with a democracy is that the people do not always vote for what's "right." Sometimes the majority is uneducated on an issue. Sometimes the majority is simply racist. Regardless, Democracy, as Churchill put it, is the worst form of government, but after all the others. The electorate should have a responsibility to stay educated on important issues and vote for politicians who are as well.
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[quote]For example, in England if someone works 37 hours minimum wage, with their pay (after paying for all expenses such as taxes, water, electricity and rent) they earn 5p more than the people on job seekers benefits.[/quote] That doesn't seem bad. What's the math on that? What's minimum wage, and what is rent/utilities/etc?
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politicians don't do what needs to be done, they only do what they think will get them re-elected.
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I remember watching a documentary about J.K. Rowling and they explained that the nature of UK welfare meant that getting a low-level job is actually a step down from welfare, so attempting to get off welfare results in people sinking to an even lower position. I remember that for a while she had to stay unemployed because getting a job would result in her no longer being able to rent an apartment.
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The annoying thing about our UK democracy is that David Cameron is too scared to do anything fearing that the rest of the Conservative party will rebel, which is making him do some stupid shit to keep the old fascists in the party happy.
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Obama cough cough
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[quote]This certainly shouldn't be the case. People on benefits should earn just as much as someone who works, and we all know this.[/quote]lol Simply not true. There's no need. Someone on UE benefits can cut the luxuries from their budget and live accordingly until they've found work (and the absence of those luxuries incents one to return to work quickly). That's what I did.
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Sadly, I did not make an oath to root out vile humans and their greed. But perhaps, once my crusade on magic has come to an end, perhaps I may consider it.