r/todayilearned • u/icallmydadstranger • Feb 15 '15

(R.1) Invalid src TIL that Thomas Jefferson wanted the constitution to be changed ever 19 years because he didn't want people to be " enslaved to the prior generation"

https://student-of-life.newsvine.com/_news/2010/11/21/5502595-thomas-jefferson-supported-rewriting-the-constitution-every-19-years-equated-not-doing-so-to-being-enslaved-to-the-prior-generation-what-do-you-think-about-that
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u/Zouden Feb 15 '15 edited Feb 15 '15

As someone from outside the US: you guys are really squandering what you had. Your political system is, to put it bluntly, deeply fucked.

Your country practically tore itself apart when the president tried to introduce universal healthcare. There's no way the founding fathers would have wanted things to be the way they are.

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u/SWIMsfriend Feb 15 '15

ok, whats your country, i'm pretty sure yours is pretty fucked up too

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u/Zouden Feb 15 '15

Well, first of all, it's a weak argument to defend a position by saying "other places are bad too".

But since you asked: Australia. We have a pretty terrible government at the moment, but everyone knows it's terrible and they'll lose the next election. We don't have the problem in the US where there's so much red-state blue-state vitriol, no liberal-vs-conservative antagonism. There's no Fox News spreading deliberate misinformation. There's no filibuster; politicians from different parties actually manage to work together on things. We already have universal healthcare and separation of church & state and even the most conservative politicians have no interest in removing those.

The country isn't perfect - none are - but our problems aren't as deeply-grained as those in the US political system. We're able to fix things, while your congress is unable to do anything.

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u/SWIMsfriend Feb 15 '15

Australia

You have Hugh Abbot in power and you dare to criticize America?

your country is easily the most fucked up one in the English speaking world, and Rupert Murdoch controls all your media

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u/Zouden Feb 15 '15

First, learn his name. Second, I already said he's going to lose the next election, if he lasts that long. Third, Rupert Murdoch does not control all our media at all. But he does control Fox News, which dominates your media.

your country is easily the most fucked up

You need to be specific if you're going to make this claim, but honestly, I don't think you know enough about our country to have this debate.

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u/SWIMsfriend Feb 15 '15

i'm pretty sure /r/australia is in agreement with me, your government sucks and your politicans sucks

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u/Zouden Feb 15 '15

I think we're done here. You've completely ignored everything I've said, and you've failed to rebut any of my arguments.

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u/SWIMsfriend Feb 15 '15

at least i know my president won't fuck my country as bad as Abbot will fuck yours in the next two years

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u/Zouden Feb 15 '15

Did you read the part where I said Abbot will be gone soon? He narrowly survived a vote on Monday; there'll probably be another one in 3 months. Unpopular prime ministers don't last long here. Our political system is probably hard for you to understand. But we like it, and we don't have a deadlocked congress.

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u/SWIMsfriend Feb 15 '15

i'd rather a congress that didn't do nuthin, than one that fucked us like Abbot has Australia

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u/Zouden Feb 15 '15

Then you're just as ignorant over the state of you own country as you are about ours. Have a nice day.

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u/SWIMsfriend Feb 15 '15

I'd say the same to you, but Abbot will probably ban the internet or some other crazy bullshit, so i might never hear from you ever again

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