I was hesitant to comment in this thread, as I was previously accused of - more or less - meddling in American affairs in a previous thread, although the accusation wasn't quite accurate.
Democracy is messy, corrupt, inefficient and divisive - but it's better than the alternatives, so we all should be wary of authoritarianism creeping into western societies.
Well, as OP of this thread (to the extent that counts for anything),your comments are totally welcome (as are anyone else's who is not a US citizen).
I appreciate seeing our system as viewed from "outside" as well as learning how other countries manage their own operations.
The notion that there is nothing of importance to be had from "outside" commentary/opinion is probably more of a reflection of you not adhering to tribal values believed by whoever criticized you than anything else. That is one of the most amazing (and disappointing) things about modern US society - how much political tribalism defines who we are and how hard most of us find it to appraise something without applying tribal values and deeming it discreetly good or evil accordingly! The obvious reality of humanity involves many shades of gray, but this system distills many aspects into black or white, and alarmingly, that often translates into admiration/love and contempt/hate!
I personally, know too many people who have an arsenal including assault weapons and or always have a concealed gun tucked in their belt. When I ask why, they respond it is to be ready if someone attacks them or the government comes after their weapons or otherwise denies their constitutional rights.
In a perfect world, I don't have a problem with that; however I do have a problem with people being so armed because I know a certain percentage of the population will be a little too quick to validate their decision to have these weapons available.
I had a friend in HS - brilliant and talented guy - straight A student. He was a starter on the HS basketball team and 1st trumpet in our HS band as well as the All-State band. He also had a black belt in karate and practiced at many other defense techniques such as throwing knives!
The problem was after a couple of beers, we routinely had to talk him out of getting into a fight with someone who may have slighted him in the way high school kids often do (deliberate or not). One time a mutual friend was on the phone leaning on the doorway and he threw a knife that stuck hard in the trim 2 inches from the guy's shoulder. He was confident enough in his throwing skills that he did not understand why we considered that such a big deal!
But my point is that I believe there is something in us that after we have spent time, money, and/or energy learning or preparing a skill or system we are inclined to want to use it. Reason or sanity will prevent a high percentage of people from doing so, but drugs (beer in the case of my friend),emotional rage (the currency of modern 24/7 news),or other stressors throw in a wild card!
After you add in the love/hate tribal judgement system, stability can get pretty tenuous!
