Re:Anti-War Speech Sent Eugene V. Debs to Prison, 1918
by tshaddox on Saturday November 26, 2022 @01:56PM
(#33755476)
What about other requirements for office and limitations, like the age and citizenship requirement and term limits for President of the United States? Should “democracy overrule” those too?
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Re:Anti-War Speech Sent Eugene V. Debs to Prison, 1918
by perihelions on Saturday November 26, 2022 @02:03PM
(#33755540)
You got me there. The questionable aspects of 18th-century political sociology fundamentally *refute* the moral arguments in favor of democracy, in the same way diagonalization arguments refute theorems in computability theory. It's ironclad math.
Re:Anti-War Speech Sent Eugene V. Debs to Prison, 1918
by ahtihn on Saturday November 26, 2022 @02:24PM
(#33755746)
Democracy can overrule those, there's a defined process for it.
Re:Anti-War Speech Sent Eugene V. Debs to Prison, 1918
by Synaesthesia on Saturday November 26, 2022 @02:49PM
(#33755984)
IMO they should, there's no need for these laws to be cast in stone and never change.
Re:Anti-War Speech Sent Eugene V. Debs to Prison, 1918
by armchairhacker on Saturday November 26, 2022 @06:10PM
(#33757909)
Yes
Honestly I the existing and proposed age limits (e.g. that you can't serve as President over 80) are addressing symptoms of a deeper problem. If your country's population wants to elect a senile 90 year-old or dumb 18 year-old or Russian traitor, your democracy is deeply flawed. A law preventing the people from doing so won't save them, as they can just elect someone else incompetent. If voters know what they're doing we shouldn't need requirements for people to run for office.
Re:Anti-War Speech Sent Eugene V. Debs to Prison, 1918
by pessimizer on Saturday November 26, 2022 @06:23PM
(#33758035)
Presidential term limits in the US were only instituted as a reaction against a president (FDR) who was very popular among voters, but far less popular with the Chamber of Commerce.
The Chamber of Commerce tried earlier to specifically institute a term limit for FDR, but it didn't work out: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Plot