Actually the clear Definition of this country (USA) would be a representative democratic Republic. In a pure Democracy the will of 50.001% of the (voting) people would be the rule of the land. That would probably be a far greater hell on earth than a Dictatorship as you would have to bend to the ever changing whims of the mob.

As we are set up now, we are perhaps not the most democratic country, the most caring nation, or even the most reasonable. We are however, the nation that allows the greatest individual freedom and demands the most individual responsibility. We allow pot stirrers, troublemakers, and rouges to have their say and if they find followers, we shrug our collective shoulders and soldier on. In short we allow fools to be fools in the bright light of day as long as they allow us to be about our business.

It's true that of late we have started down the path of the "S" word that cannot be spelled out, but we still lag far behind the other western Democracies on that road. To that I say “thank god”, but that’s just my opinion.

It is interesting to note that when people from around the world vote with their feet, it is the "Western Democracies" they flee to, and if given a choice it is the good old "USA" that is their preferred destination.

AS to why this forum allows you to write Communist, right wing extremist, eco-terrorist, Satanist, or fascist without any qualms but feels so******t (s o c i a l i s t) is too provocative a word to allow, I'm sure there is a perfectly reasonable explanation somewhere. Any volunteers to dig out that story?

Yours (respectfully)

Mad Lews