Does power come from the people?

[davo141]

people talk but people never do.....
they could talk about getting rid of the government but i bet 90% would never lift a finger.

Could you imagine if we, here, in britain got rid of our government? it would be like how the media show Iraq...lawless and under marshall law with troops everywhere...looting etc would be ripe as without a goverment would law be useless? or is it the monarch that has supreme power, i know she controls the forces so would, if needed deploy them to restore order in the realm.

It would be harder to over throw an adminstration like the US' as bush is commander and cheif......our government has no final say as it is the queen so if she was to do her job as it is anyways she could close parliment and rule herself....would it be better or worse than a government? why?

i think not as she has no idea of ruling as her predicesors (spelling?) did!

cheers, davo

[Whitey]

Power comes from MLK, NAACP, ADL and last but not least corporate lobbyist.

[Sticky Blue]

or is it the monarch that has supreme power, i know she controls the forces so would, if needed deploy them to restore order in the realm.

Look again Davo... the officers control the armed forces and their orders come from politicians. The queen is far too busy to issue orders but she does know a hell of a lot of what goes on. The PM does call on her majesty to inform her if a state of war exists out of courtesy alone.

I would say that power comes from the people... they vote in the politicians and they pay the taxes that pay the elected. Public opinion and action is often underestimated.

[Tab]

Is the power in the hands of the people, is it heck. They allow you to vote for a bunch of crooks or a bunch of thieves every five years, and who ever gets in will do exactly what they like and get you to pay for it through some form of taxes.

[Spannerman]

Tab, what, like big brown envelopes packed with 20 quid notes? Never happen mate, all politicians are as straight as dies, name me 652 politicians in the last year that have taken a bung!

[Whitey]

Bribes, American politics would be parylized without them.

[Sisyphus]

Is the power in the hands of the people, is it heck. They allow you to vote for a bunch of crooks or a bunch of thieves every five years, and who ever gets in will do exactly what they like and get you to pay for it through some form of taxes

Tab

Can't say I disagree with you. But your solution is??????

[Frank S.]

My solution's to give them more rope: re-elect them and let them bring things to the breaking point.
I'm semi-serious. I mean, in the absence of true or viable choices for candidates, and parties being fundamentally owned by the same entities, buckle up for the ride and let them take us there.
As the joke goes, I hope I die like my grand-father, serene, with a smile on my face, not like the other three people screaming in the car...

[owdun]

Ask the people of Georgia, (Ex USSR) if the people are the power, their President found out who rules, and it ain't him when the chips are down.


Aye Owdun.

[Whitey]

That president is stepping down rather than thrust his country into civil war. The US proved in 1865 that popular opinion doesn't matter here. If citizens in Virginia rose up again I'd bet good money the Feds would sic the F117's on them. Same in the UK try to rise up, and Toney would turn your beloved Corps on the general population.

[Spannerman]

Whitey

If we don't get our vote on the EU Constitution/Euro Referenda, the animals might just be let loose, feelings run high on such emotive issues. Those people in Georgia took a huge risk but to them that risk was worth paying, a bit like Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968 in reverse.

30-40 years ago troops on the streets of Britain might have been a reality, where the hell would El Tone get his Squaddies from to defend his beloved 'dictatorship' from today.................?

[Whitey]

Spannerman,
I know for a fact that had I ever been ordered to fire on my own countrymen, that order would have been the last order the treasonous bastard who ordered it ever gave. Unfortunatly we have an Army of people who wouldn't think twice about doing just such a horriblre thing. I hope you never have to experience such a horrible thing. In our Civil War the federal troops atrocities made Bosnia look like small change, and when they finnished they went after the indians. I think that is why most Americans really don't speak out. They watched shock and awe and subconscoiusly realize that that could be just as well downtown Dallas should the people of Texas ask for or demand to leave this horrible forced destructive Union. The people of Georgia did take a risk, but if it came to blows it would have been more of an equal fight, could you imagine if we or your people demanded the same or decided to fight? We'd be decimated like the Republican Guard in GW1. Just look at what was done to those religious folks in Waco. Sad really, 80 people incenerated because of a beef with 1 man. Just when you get used to the world someone tries to change it.

[Jon]

No, power does not come from the people. All a politician needs to do is give a few empty promises which will win him votes. After he becomes PM or whatever, it does not matter what the people think because he will remain in that position.

The only ways that power comes from the people is through revolution or mass outcry. But the latter is usually shugged off (eg: Bush syaing that he was pleased that anti-war protestors had the right to voice an opinion is not listening to thier opinion, but making the most of it for his own gain).