General

Not paying taxes, I love that idea. Sign me up. Oh for war...Canada doesn't war lel.

what we need to do is redistribute the tax paying so that the war supporters pay more taxes because of the war and the war resisters dont pay at all

@readers: it's never too late to bring back slave labor

@zoglinemusic: Reagan seems like a bad president for stopping all the quality of life acts due to people suing for possibly good things.
Clean Air Act (1963), Wilderness Act (1964), Water Quality Act (1965), Air Quality Act (1967), Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (1968), National Environmental Policy Act (1970), Clean Water Act (1972), Marine Mammal Protection Act (1972), Endangered Species Act (1973), Safe Drinking Water Act (1974), Toxic Substances Control Act (1976), Superfund Act (1980)

Then 1980s, Reagan stopped them.
Year ago a woman involved in a flint lawsuit got shot
https://www.rt.com/usa/340633-flint-woman-homicide-water-lawsuit/

@nolen: Oligarchies assume that only a few people or groups have all the power. That's an oversimplification of the United States' system. America is not Ancient Greece with its city-states that are oligarchic.
What I think you're referring to is that the elite, or the 1%, or etc. have influence, if only because they're a much smaller group and therefore they have more of an ability to advance their interests compared to the middle class or the poor who comprise a larger portion of the population and thus it's harder for them to advance interests. But that doesn't mean the middle class and the poor have zero influence, as though you never have gotten what you wanted at all. If that were the case, we should all continue to be stuck in the Dark Ages without any sign or progress whatsoever, continuing to live our feudalistic lives as is usual.
Rich people in America can influence politics just like how rich people in other countries also influence politics. So would we then assume by definition that the entire world is one big giant oligarchy? What would the political difference be between nations, should that be the case?
(In summary, what I described about the political system of America is something more akin to pluralism. That doesn't mean pluralism and democracy are mutually exclusive to one another.)

I don't understand how your other points about capitalism and business connect to arguments about democracy.

@zoglinemusic: Okay. So that should make a republic and a democracy mutually exclusive? What country in the world constitutes a direct democracy, by any chance?

The US is an oligarchy, imperialistic, and their capitalists made the rest of the world a worst place. The sense of Democracy in the US allows the media's narrative to promote/aid war profiteers and multinational corporations to takeover/destroy local economies. Prison is a business that does not aim to rehabilitate like in Sweden. I think

@andreaverilia: In that case, please define what the political system of the United States is then, if not democracy.
The assumption is that democracy should always be some kind of perfect system when it will have its own shortcomings and faults. But that doesn't necessarily equate to the United States not being a democracy.

@greatbolshy: So assuming that people take advantage of the free housing and food (alongside the crap you suffer in prison) just because, who else will be there to produce the food and actually work for the sake of providing those benefits for others? And why should they?

i think this is a fantastic idea if you want to be financially responsible. you get to keep extra money from not paying taxes, and when you get caught, they give you free housing and food in prison. what a bargain

I love how US think they live in a democracy lmao. They all are too dumb to realize what democracy really is

This is stupid. Nobody wants a freeloader reaping off the benefits of others' hard work which taxes contribute to.

If you don't want the country to go to war, you make that known to others. Tell your politicians, get others involved as well. You vote. Don't do this stupid bullsh!t. It's a democracy, yes people will vote and support even those who are warmongers. Yes, even then politicians can backtrack on their statements that they won't go to war by actually doing so. That's just the game. You are free to play it or not by actually performing your role as a contributing member of society and pay taxes, or don't pay taxes and risk prison or you can also remove yourself from the country altogether.