"Beware the demagogues ready to declare a trade war against our friends"

[LevelUP]

during the eighteenth century the terms “democracy” and “republic” were used rather interchangeably in both common and philosophical usage. [...]

We have these choices in Montesquieu's and Wilson's usage contemporary to the founding: that a government is a democracy (a form of republic and electoral government), aristocracy (another form of republic and electoral government), monarchy (a monarchy might also be limited with democratic or aristocratic bodies holding power), or despotism.

The United States is a constitutional republic.

This, arresting and deporting undocumented immigrants with criminal records, occurred under every president and is supported by both parties.

Under Biden, they were catching and releasing illegal immigrants arrested for burglary, theft, larceny, or shoplifting.

Congress passes The Laken Riley Act and Trump signs into law
https://www.npr.org/2025/01/29/g-s1-4527...-riley-act

Also, in Democrat-controlled cities, they won’t let ICE into the jails and prisons to deport illegal immigrants who have been charged and convicted of crimes after serving their sentences.

The act on its own of being an undocumented immigrant is not criminal, though it is a civil violation.

Crossing the U.S. border without authorization is illegal under 8 U.S.C. § 1325, which carries a penalty of up to six months' imprisonment. Crossing the border illegally a second time is classified as a felony with a maximum sentence of up to two years in prison.

[Jonathan Whatley]

The United States is a constitutional republic.

Yes. That United States constitution describes a democracy with the representatives who constitute the republic elected democratically.

Being democratic is essential to the nature of the United States, differentiating it from non-democratic constitutional republics such as the Soviet Union.

The act on its own of being an undocumented immigrant is not criminal, though it is a civil violation.

Crossing the U.S. border without authorization is illegal under 8 U.S.C. § 1325, which carries a penalty of up to six months' imprisonment. Crossing the border illegally a second time is classified as a felony with a maximum sentence of up to two years in prison.

True! But many undocumented immigrants never crossed the border illegally. They crossed the border legally, then overstayed.

[lemma]

The whole "the US isn't a democracy!" argument is so lame, mostly because it's a semantic argument that fails even in that sense.

The US is not a direct democracy, so if anyone is going around screeching about how Trump is running our direct democracy into the ground, then feel free to inform them that we've never been a direct democracy.

The US is, however, a democracy. It has a form of representative government where the public elects those representatives. A direct democracy has a different form of democratic government. Both the American and direct types are subtypes of democracy. If you don't believe me, maybe you'll believe Merriam-Webster's dictionary:

"a form of government in which the people elect representatives to make decisions, policies, laws, etc. according to law"

Sounds like the US to me. Now, there are other definitions of democracy, too. Unsurprisingly, people use the same word in different ways at different times and in different places. Welcome to the realities of polysemy. But regardless, it's obtuse to act like the above definition of democracy is not clearly one of, if not THE, most widely accepted definitions of democracy. Really the only time when people use "democracy" as a stand-in for "direct democracy" is when they are losing an argument.

So yes, the US is a democracy per the word's definition as it is used by many (most?) native speakers of English. It's pretty damning that when politicians engage in anti-democratic behavior one of the go-to counters their defenders always trot out is a semantic argument—and a semantic argument, as shown above, that isn't even right.

Sad!

[LevelUP]

The whole "the US isn't a democracy!" argument is so lame, mostly because it's a semantic argument that fails even in that sense.

The US is not a direct democracy, so if anyone is going around screeching about how Trump is running our direct democracy into the ground, then feel free to inform them that we've never been a direct democracy.

The US is, however, a democracy. It has a form of representative government where the public elects those representatives. A direct democracy has a different form of democratic government. Both the American and direct types are subtypes of democracy. If you don't believe me, maybe you'll believe Merriam-Webster's dictionary:

"a form of government in which the people elect representatives to make decisions, policies, laws, etc. according to law"

Sounds like the US to me. Now, there are other definitions of democracy, too. Unsurprisingly, people use the same word in different ways at different times and in different places. Welcome to the realities of polysemy. But regardless, it's obtuse to act like the above definition of democracy is not clearly one of, if not THE, most widely accepted definitions of democracy. Really the only time when people use "democracy" as a stand-in for "direct democracy" is when they are losing an argument.

So yes, the US is a democracy per the word's definition as it is used by many (most?) native speakers of English. It's pretty damning that when politicians engage in anti-democratic behavior one of the go-to counters their defenders always trot out is a semantic argument—and a semantic argument, as shown above, that isn't even right.

Sad!

This is more a statement of fact than an argument.

Democracy is a broad concept that many countries can claim.

"While often categorized as a democracy, the United States is more accurately defined as a constitutional federal republic. What does this mean? “Constitutional” refers to the fact that government in the United States is based on a Constitution which is the supreme law of the United States."

U.S. Embassy
https://ar.usembassy.gov/u-s-government/

If you read The Federalist Papers, you can gain a better understanding of the Constitution and the country's founding.

"A pure democracy, by which I mean a society consisting of a small number of citizens, who assemble and administer the government in person, can admit of no cure for the mischiefs of faction."
— Federalist No. 10

"If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary."
— Federalist No. 51

[NotJoeBiden]

What is the argument here? Since America is a representative democracy and not a pure democracy then we should just do fascism?

[freeloader]

What is the argument here? Since America is a representative democracy and not a pure democracy then we should just do fascism?

I find the argument that “the United States isn’t a democracy” to be made overwhelmingly by two types of people: 1) those who think saying it makes themselves appear smarter, as if their knowledge that the Constitution (and Declaration of Independence for that matter) lack of the words democracy, democratic, etc. shows them in some way superior to those who don’t possess this knowledge. This seems especially popular with those who have only recently read the Constitution and have decided they are experts on it. Think middle schoolers and high schoolers. And 2) Those who don’t like democracy and think the United States has too much democracy. They often think that the franchise should be restricted, perhaps only to men, to white people, to property owing white people, to white people who have served in the military, or something similar.  

The tech billionaires allied with and backing Trump (including Musk and Thiel) often make this distinction, for instance. They cite it as one of the reasons why the vast majority of people should no longer be allowed to vote and the franchise should be limited to a relative handful of enlightened people who share their vision for the new America. 

Genuinely curious LevelUp, are you someone who uses the “republic” argument and who also thinks we have too much democracy and that the franchise should be restricted?  If so, who do you think should be allowed to vote?

[lemma]

The whole "the US isn't a democracy!" argument is so lame, mostly because it's a semantic argument that fails even in that sense.

The US is not a direct democracy, so if anyone is going around screeching about how Trump is running our direct democracy into the ground, then feel free to inform them that we've never been a direct democracy.

The US is, however, a democracy. It has a form of representative government where the public elects those representatives. A direct democracy has a different form of democratic government. Both the American and direct types are subtypes of democracy. If you don't believe me, maybe you'll believe Merriam-Webster's dictionary:

"a form of government in which the people elect representatives to make decisions, policies, laws, etc. according to law"

Sounds like the US to me. Now, there are other definitions of democracy, too. Unsurprisingly, people use the same word in different ways at different times and in different places. Welcome to the realities of polysemy. But regardless, it's obtuse to act like the above definition of democracy is not clearly one of, if not THE, most widely accepted definitions of democracy. Really the only time when people use "democracy" as a stand-in for "direct democracy" is when they are losing an argument.

So yes, the US is a democracy per the word's definition as it is used by many (most?) native speakers of English. It's pretty damning that when politicians engage in anti-democratic behavior one of the go-to counters their defenders always trot out is a semantic argument—and a semantic argument, as shown above, that isn't even right.

Sad!

This is more a statement of fact than an argument.

Democracy is a broad concept that many countries can claim.

"While often categorized as a democracy, the United States is more accurately defined as a constitutional federal republic. What does this mean? “Constitutional” refers to the fact that government in the United States is based on a Constitution which is the supreme law of the United States."

U.S. Embassy
https://ar.usembassy.gov/u-s-government/

If you read The Federalist Papers, you can gain a better understanding of the Constitution and the country's founding.

"A pure democracy, by which I mean a society consisting of a small number of citizens, who assemble and administer the government in person, can admit of no cure for the mischiefs of faction."
— Federalist No. 10

"If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary."
— Federalist No. 51

Yes, the United States is more accurately described as a constitutional federal republic. Just like a Shih Tzu is more accurately described as a Shih Tzu than a dog, or a mammal, etc. That more accurate descriptor does not change the fact that it is a dog, or a mammal. 

The US is a constitutional federal republic. It's a democracy, too, using the definition of the word as it is clearly meant by the people who call it such. Being one doesn't preclude it being the other. Just because more precise terms exist doesn't mean more informal ones don't also apply.

No one can seriously tell me that the type of people who claim to care about American democracy — that is, politically interested people — think the US is a direct democracy. Anyone who cares enough about America to think its democratic institutions are under threat is aware that congressmen represent them in government. So since you guys know that's what they mean, why willfully misinterpret them and assume they meant direct democracy? 

It reminds me a lot of when someone mentions "America" in a context where it's clear they're talking about the US and some people get all upset because they claim it's too broad a term. It applies to all people from the American continents! Yeah, sure, it does...sometimes. And more often it doesn't. Popular usage and context makes it clear 99% of the time that, in English, "American" means related to the US—just like democracy almost always refers to the things mentioned in the entry from Merriam-Webster's above, and not direct democracy specifically.

[LevelUP]

Temporary truce in trade war

Canada
https://x.com/RealJessica05/status/1886532396817989674

Mexico
https://x.com/Bubblebathgirl/status/1886460515683066351

It looks like Trump is using tariffs as a negotiation tool to get what the administration wants.

The left's POV:
Tariffs raise the price of goods and risk disrupting relations with our trading partners. 

The right's POV:
In 2022, 73,654 people died from a fentanyl overdose in the U.S. The lives of people and the safety of communities are far more important than a temporary increase in the cost of goods, such as the price of beer and avocados.

Me:

[lemma]

Updates to tariffs in the past 24 hours. 

Canada
https://x.com/RealJessica05/status/1886532396817989674

Mexico
https://x.com/Bubblebathgirl/status/1886460515683066351

It looks like Trump is using tariffs as a negotiation tool to get what the administration wants.

The left's POV:
Tariffs raise the price of goods and risk disrupting relations with our trading partners. 

The right's POV:
In 2022, 73,654 people died from a fentanyl overdose in the U.S. The lives of people and the safety of communities are far more important than a temporary increase in the cost of goods, such as the price of beer and avocados.

Me:

Now you guys care about drug addicts? Why should non-drug-addicts like me have my standard of living lowered through increased prices because a bunch of bored people in red states want to kill themselves with narcotics?

[NotJoeBiden]

FYI: The majority of fentanyl is trafficked through legal ports of entries by US citizens.