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Lake Ontario ("Lake America")

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121–128 of 128 posts

Re: Lake Ontario ("Lake America")

#121
post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Swiss democracy is doing just fine, it has frequent changing of power and lack of concentration of it built in much more robustly rather than US' pinky promises and wishful expectations. If only EU would be less pushy in bilateral talks and stop bullying it on internal matters and rather focus on its own rising internal... catastrophe(s) behind the doors. Plus frequent public votes on actually important matters, the…

They did vote to ban minarets, which was odd. Also, the Swiss are fairly conservative in the classical personal responsibility sense, which makes for good citizen voters. They do this through an aggressive policy of education and assimilation that emphasizes “Swissness.” Dropping Swiss style into other countries might not work out as well.

Make public votes elsewhere and you will see laws like those minarets passing left and right. This is what an actual democracy looks like - majority's opinion prevails, not only topic one likes to see happening.

Folks generally like to feel they are objective, but only to the point when something they don't favor is winning. I am guilty of same behavior, part of human nature I guess but its good to realize one's own fallacies

Re: Lake Ontario ("Lake America")

#122
post #96
post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Swiss democracy is doing just fine, it has frequent changing of power and lack of concentration of it built in much more robustly rather than US' pinky promises and wishful expectations. If only EU would be less pushy in bilateral talks and stop bullying it on internal matters and rather focus on its own rising internal... catastrophe(s) behind the doors. Plus frequent public votes on actually important matters, the…

> Swiss democracy is doing just fine, it has frequent changing of power and lack of concentration of it built in much more robustly rather than US' pinky promises and wishful expectations. Recent rebuttals to the Swiss model: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49451032

Nothing there of that sort apart from maga-level typical claims 'they have nazi gold' which ain't true but it gives a fuzzy feeling of knowing a bit to some less educated folks.

Its most direct democracy globally having most free citizens (depends on viewpoint but I stand behind this claim firmly), bar none. They just don't need to shout about it all the time like US folks do, they simply just deliver, over 800 years and counting.

Re: Lake Ontario ("Lake America")

#123
post #22

Lots of countries change the names of things, even countries themselves.. Bombay to Mumbai, Ceylon to Sri Lanka, Turkey to Türkiye etc. Yes, some of those are specific to a name in a particular language and all have precedents rather than being entirely new. However, it is a precedent for governments deciding the names of things. This, as its just made up, reminds me a lot of political/nationalist renaming of things…

Another HN thread made be look up a place name to find out where it was. This is somewhere I have actually been to!

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49533216

Re: Lake Ontario ("Lake America")

#124
post #22

Lots of countries change the names of things, even countries themselves.. Bombay to Mumbai, Ceylon to Sri Lanka, Turkey to Türkiye etc. Yes, some of those are specific to a name in a particular language and all have precedents rather than being entirely new. However, it is a precedent for governments deciding the names of things. This, as its just made up, reminds me a lot of political/nationalist renaming of things…

> However, it is a precedent for governments deciding the names of things. ??? that's not true at all > reminds me a lot of political/nationalist renaming of things like roads which is very common in parts of South Asia Isn't that very common in... Canada? Ottawa, Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway -> Kichi Zībī Mīkan (2023) Winnipeg, Bishop Grandin Boulevard -> Abinojii Mikanah (2023–24) Halifax, Cornwallis Street -> Nor…

I have lived in South Asia and have never been to Canada and know little about it.

Are the Canadian examples nationalist? It looks like your first example was first renamed after a politician (which is like South Asia) and then renamed again after a pushback to that (which is not like South Asia)

Re: Lake Ontario ("Lake America")

#125
post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Swiss democracy is doing just fine, it has frequent changing of power and lack of concentration of it built in much more robustly rather than US' pinky promises and wishful expectations. Recent rebuttals to the Swiss model: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49451032

Nothing there of that sort apart from maga-level typical claims 'they have nazi gold' which ain't true but it gives a fuzzy feeling of knowing a bit to some less educated folks. Its most direct democracy globally having most free citizens (depends on viewpoint but I stand behind this claim firmly), bar none. They just don't need to shout about it all the time like US folks do, they simply just deliver, over 800 years…

There were more important points made there than "nazi gold"

Re: Lake Ontario ("Lake America")

#126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Admittedly it's been a long time since I watched it but isn't the introduction sequence straight-up apologia for the theories behind eugenics? The idea 'what if society got massively more stupid' isn't a bad one for a film but 'the rabbit-like hordes of the stupid outgroup ourbred our elite ingroup to extinction' rubs me the wrong way. Maybe I'm being unfair to the film because of the fanbase as well. I've always see…

> Maybe I'm being unfair to the film because of the fanbase as well. I've always seen it as a mild red flag when someone says it's their favourite comedy, but it's hardly the film's fault it got popular on places like reddit. This is circular reasoning: You don't like the film because of the fanbase which you don't like because they like the film. There is no "apologia for eugenics" in the intro. You have to actively…

[deleted]

Re: Lake Ontario ("Lake America")

#127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They did vote to ban minarets, which was odd. Also, the Swiss are fairly conservative in the classical personal responsibility sense, which makes for good citizen voters. They do this through an aggressive policy of education and assimilation that emphasizes “Swissness.” Dropping Swiss style into other countries might not work out as well.

Make public votes elsewhere and you will see laws like those minarets passing left and right. This is what an actual democracy looks like - majority's opinion prevails, not only topic one likes to see happening. Folks generally like to feel they are objective, but only to the point when something they don't favor is winning. I am guilty of same behavior, part of human nature I guess but its good to realize one's own…

The swiss system mostly works because the people are disciplined, believe in lots of self responsibility, they actually have militias with mandatory participation (like America's 2nd amendment, but the first clause isn't flavor text), you have to join the volunteer fire brigade, etc... Immigrants who want to become swiss citizens...they do a spot check of your home cleanliness to make sure you are "swiss enough".

Re: Lake Ontario ("Lake America")

#128
post #9
post #3

I apologize to my Canadian friends. This is embarrassing.

Yes, but it's also Trump and the GOP self-immolating. November is going to be a historic electoral wipeout. I expect the next administration will push through some laws limiting this sort of idiocy.

> November is going to be a historic electoral wipeout.

Unfortunately November is going to be a historic voter supression event like nothing ever seen before.

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