is it?

I lived in china I lived in canada, frankly I feel the same.

except I pay way more taxes here like 40 percent on income another 12 on everything else so that's 52 percent gone.

As for voting, I don't do it. The canada government is a joke it takes month to pass something, and by the time the action is taken the problem would have been over.

Freedom of speech?! What a lie, I say anything to anybody it's offensive. Nobody can talk about wat they think anymore, it's all generic, hi how are you good wat about you.

In china the taxes are lower and no tax on everyday items. Also the chinese are not as sensitive as the damn North Americans.

Starter of Controversy.

NO.

Are you communist?

Quote from lemondude

Also the chinese are not as sensitive as the damn North Americans.

Huh... is something wrong with you?

Anyway, I love where I live. The US has one of the best systems of government. Where I live, the tax rate is 8%, but I generally don't mind it. I turned 18 just recently, and I'm exciting to take part in voting since the primary elections are coming up.

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Quote from LawX

You are like the dense main character in a shoujo manga.

Quote from Crenshinibon

And you will murder someone one day, pika. If you're my daughter.

Quote from lemondude

is it?

Freedom of speech?! What a lie, I say anything to anybody it's offensive. Nobody can talk about wat they think anymore, it's all generic, hi how are you good wat about you.

You were not denied your right to say whatever may have offended someone, just that person or people choose to either listen or ignore you, can say it until you are blue in the face.

Also, try telling Hu Jintao you disagree with his policies. I hear they have a camp for that.

"Let's put a smile on that face."

I think it's much better than having no say at all.

Are you communist?

Didn't we stop this 20+ years ago? If they're communist, they're communist. This isn't the Cold War, people.

Freedom of speech?! What a lie, I say anything to anybody it's offensive. Nobody can talk about wat they think anymore, it's all generic, hi how are you good wat about you.

I think freedom of speech implies we can say what we will, and we won't be arrested for speaking against the--insert title--and executed. I believe that these people you refer to choose not to speak about it because they're anxious, don't care, ect. The fact that you can question a governmental system on the internet without fear shows you that have freedom of speech.

democracy's a flawed system, but I'll take it. 🙂

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Quote from lemondude

As for voting, I don't do it. The canada government is a joke it takes month to pass something, and by the time the action is taken the problem would have been over.

Your fault for not voting for a more capable government.

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canada vote for a party member to be your representative. So basically you are voting for parties and not presidents.

The American voting you can have a direct impact on who you want to lead the country.

The canadian voting system is unless you live in a area where the representative is the party leader, you are pretty much just voting for a person that will sit in the parliment and not have the right to speak in it.

Starter of Controversy.

Democratic republics tend to be the best of a myriad of very bad systems. It's not perfect, but it's the lesser evil.

Before anyone starts ranting about the democratic peace theory or anything, I'm going to take a preemptive swing and mutter that economic ties are far more important than people's willingness to go to war, but that's partially because I'm a deeply cynical person, even if I am quite liberal.

@Pikapu: I would venture that you actually know very little about communism if you actually think of China as a communist nation. It's not that clear cut, and it hasn't been since at least the late seventies.

Also, North Americans like myself do have a bit of a reputation around the world, traveling in it a bit will certainly tell you that. Whether it's true or not is up to the individual, though.

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Quote from lemondude

As for voting, I don't do it. The canada government is a joke it takes month to pass something, and by the time the action is taken the problem would have been over.

The reason it takes so long to pass legislation is in Canada we have independent courts that prevent the government from just doing whatever it wants. Therefore it takes awhile to craft legislation that won't be deemed illegal or contravene the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Freedom of speech?! What a lie, I say anything to anybody it's offensive. Nobody can talk about wat they think anymore, it's all generic, hi how are you good wat about you.

Freedom of Speech exists in Canada. The exception is intentionally inflammatory speech. That exception is why in Canada you don't see neo-nazi or white supremacists holding public marches.

Freedom of Speech does not mean freedom from consequences. All it means is that government can't infringe on your right to say something. If you act like a jackass and say something extreme other people and private enterprise are free to punish you in any way they see fit so long as it doesn't violate the law.

In china the taxes are lower and no tax on everyday items. Also the chinese are not as sensitive as the damn North Americans.

In China you also have to wear a mask to go outside if you live in cities because of overwhelming pollution. In China the government can forcibly relocate you if the government decides they want to build something where you live. The government can send you jail if you say something that angers somebody with any sort of power or influence. The government can send you to jail if you visit websites that they don't approve of.

As for not being "as sensitive as the damn North Americans", then how do you explain the fact that there were riots in China a few years ago when Japanese PM Junichiro Koizumi visited a War Shrine?

In Canada there is no such thing as a Democracy, what we have here is called an elected dictatorship. The thing is our Prime Minister selects Senators and the Governor General APPOINTS them the duty, so who do you think he's going to choose. That's right, ex-cabinet members and ex-Premiers with similar minded goals, so you can pretty much guarantee the passing of most laws by the current government. Unlike the United States where the senate is elected, creating set of checks and balances within the government.

Also in Canada we still have strong ties to the English monarch, we have a Governor General (chosen on the advice of the Prime Minister) which is also appointed. Today it's just a total figurehead, spending taxpayer money on private jets for public appearances and fancy trips to the Bahamas. Heres the crazy thing; the Governor General has to sign each bill, before it can technically be passed, essentially giving it the "Queen's stamp of approval." Now nothing ever really happens, but if the Governor General wanted he/she could refuse to sign the bill, negating everything about said bill. Now that is incredible power for one person to have over an entire country. Don't you think?

Yep we have a pretty archaic system over here. Unfortunately it probably won't ever change, so until I see a party worth voting for I'll refuse to vote.

As for the question democracy is not overrated, if done properly, which no government will ever do because it puts total control in the hands of the people. Governments are really about one thing, control over the population.

• We also have a house of commons (where bills are drawn up), which is elected, but is still fucked because it's represented by population, not by area. So eastern Canada (I love you guys, no hate) has more Members of Parliament then Western Canada, giving them an advantage when it comes to creating favorable laws.

Insert Catchy Signature Here.

I wish there were no goverment systems, then i could kill whoever i wanted! Now you see kids why a government is important(seriously though i would kill if there wasn't one). Oh and to stay on topic, democracy might as well be the same as any of type of government, I mean is there really that much of a difference?

Quote from reixshinji

I wish there were no goverment systems, then i could kill whoever i wanted! Now you see kids why a government is important(seriously though i would kill if there wasn't one).

Eh... nice... to know.... o______o;;

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Quote from LawX

You are like the dense main character in a shoujo manga.

Quote from Crenshinibon

And you will murder someone one day, pika. If you're my daughter.

Quote from reixshinji

I wish there were no goverment systems, then i could kill whoever i wanted! Now you see kids why a government is important(seriously though i would kill if there wasn't one). Oh and to stay on topic, democracy might as well be the same as any of type of government, I mean is there really that much of a difference?

I agree with your last part, but........you seem a little less convincing with the murder threats before it. Sort of like Charles Manson.

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Quote from devioustrevor

As for not being "as sensitive as the damn North Americans", then how do you explain the fact that there were riots in China a few years ago when Japanese PM Junichiro Koizumi visited a War Shrine?

You're largely correct, but be careful about thinking that this particular issue is oversensitivity. Yasukuni shrine contains a museum filled with revisionist history and also, from a shinto standpoint, enshrines the souls of a number of noted war criminals. Now, Japan does get a lot of flack for its actions in and before WWII, but I think the Chinese have a right to be upset about the leader of a nation paying a visit to a place that considers the nanjing massacre an "advance into China." A lot of people place that on the same level as the German Chancellor visiting a church which claims the holocaust never happened. It's a pretty messy issue, and not clear cut at all, so I think it's pretty hard to call that oversensitivity. Now, the Chinese government does do a lot of ridiculous things, Tiananmen Square being the optimal example, but I don't think that many of them are a result of "oversensitivity."

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Quote from Ghaz

• We also have a house of commons (where bills are drawn up), which is elected, but is still fucked because it's represented by population, not by area. So eastern Canada (I love you guys, no hate) has more Members of Parliament then Western Canada, giving them an advantage when it comes to creating favorable laws.

Every province is assigned a number of parliamentary seats based on population. Prince Edward Island is the only province over-represented in parliament and that is only because they are guaranteed a minimum of 4 seats as part of the articles of confederation.

Quote from devioustrevor

Quote from Ghaz

• We also have a house of commons (where bills are drawn up), which is elected, but is still fucked because it's represented by population, not by area. So eastern Canada (I love you guys, no hate) has more Members of Parliament then Western Canada, giving them an advantage when it comes to creating favorable laws.

Every province is assigned a number of parliamentary seats based on population. Prince Edward Island is the only province over-represented in parliament and that is only because they are guaranteed a minimum of 4 seats as part of the articles of confederation.

Yes I know (except about the guaranteed 4 seats), I'm saying it's an unfair principle. It should be represented by AREA not by population. When it's represented by pop provinces with more population have more MP's giving them an unfair advantage in drawing up and passing bills. It's like when a favorable law for Western Canada is drawn up it has more of a chance of being vetoed because Eastern Canada has more MP's. If we had a certain number of seats allowed per area....like most countries, it would create equal opportunity to create or veto laws for both east and west.

The system we have now basically allows majority rule in the House of Commons, and who has the majority of MP's? Eastern Canada! If it was an equal number of MP's for each province, instead of this by riding bullshit, no province would have advantage over another. Mr.Speaker.

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