Russia Undemocratic.

[snaw]

May well be true, but it'll still be a long way removed from the farce that is Russian democracy.

I find it truly scary that Russia seems to have reverted into some sort of fascist state (In the truest sense of the word), and is ruled by essentially the ex secret service, who're in denial about losing their empire (They're even in denial that they had an empire) and have a chip on their shoulders ever since against the west.

[AtW]

I find it truly scary that Russia seems to have reverted into some sort of fascist state

Nazi state, yes - fascists were in Italy.

If you read "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" by Shirer you will find that what Putin did in economy and other fields is very much what the nazies did in their time.

The only big difference is that corruption among nazies was much lower and they were not buying English football clubs - that's pretty much the only hope really, but with all the nazism Putin is generating there might come some really bad nationalistic leader that will get support of the people prepped up by Putin.

[VectraMan]

I've voted in three general elections, and each time my vote has been discarded because somebody else got a majority in my area.

Where's this democracy I've heard so much about?

[shaunbhoy]

I've voted in three general elections, and each time my vote has been discarded because somebody else got a majority in my area.

Where's this democracy I've heard so much about?

Proportional representation would be more democratic than the f"irst-past-the-post" tulipfest we are stuck with, but the only Party in favour of that are the Lib Dems. And in most other ways they make the other two seem plausible.

[AtW]

I've voted in three general elections, and each time my vote has been discarded because somebody else got a majority in my area.

Where's this democracy I've heard so much about?

Democracy does not mean that your candidate always wins.

What democracy means is that even if your candidate loses 3 times you won't go to prison for supporting it, or lose your job for voting that person, and your candidate will actually have chance to be elected without being killed - that's democracy, not what you think it is.

If you want to have your candidate win all the time then move into electoral zone where similiarly minded people live. In a non-democracy like Russia the only way to do that is to die - something the state very much obliges if you don't support their candidates.

[DodgyAgent]

. And in most other ways they make the other two seem plausible.

Only because they have no track record. Their policies are very much along the lines of the status quo but with higher taxes and total capitulation to the EU

[shaunbhoy]

In a non-democracy like Russia the only way to do that is to die - something the state very much obliges if you don't support their candidates.

Careful alexei. That is sedition! I just had a visit from a badly-dressed white bloke asking if I knew where you lived. I told him somewhere in Cloud-Cuckoo land so it is only a matter of time before he tracks you down and "re-educates" you.

[TheFaQQer]

Only because they have no track record. Their policies are very much along the lines of the status quo but with higher taxes and total capitulation to the EU

But at least under PR you would be able to get rid of them sooner.

[DodgyAgent]

But at least under PR you would be able to get rid of them sooner.

And the other good news is that nothing would get doene, which given the incompetence of these people would not be a bad vote. I'm in.

[snaw]

Nazi state, yes - fascists were in Italy.

If you read "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" by Shirer you will find that what Putin did in economy and other fields is very much what the nazies did in their time.

The only big difference is that corruption among nazies was much lower and they were not buying English football clubs - that's pretty much the only hope really, but with all the nazism Putin is generating there might come some really bad nationalistic leader that will get support of the people prepped up by Putin.

Nope, I meant fascism - read the definition and it pretty much descrives Putin's Russia:

fas·cism (fshzm)
n.
1. often Fascism
a. A system of government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, stringent socioeconomic controls, suppression of the opposition through terror and censorship, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism.
b. A political philosophy or movement based on or advocating such a system of government.
2. Oppressive, dictatorial control.

As opposed to:

Na·zism (nätszm, nt-) also Na·zi·ism (-s-zm)
n.
The ideology and practice of the Nazis, especially the policy of racist nationalism, national expansion, and state control of the economy.