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Hello all:
I enjoy your forum, and for the first time I felt the desire to make a post:
1. Americans want a third party? Sure....until it costs their favored politician an election as Nader did to Gore in 2000, and to a lesser extent Perot cost Bush senior. On one hand a 2 party system (almost) guarantees the winner will carry the majority, a multiparty system may result in a winner carrying 30%, on the other hand you often end up with 2 candidates no one wants as has been the case in the US since Clinton ran in 1996. Interesting note: the Democrats are scared at the current time that many young people are favoring running a candidate who has no chance of winning a nationwide election, but agrees with their principles (e.g. Howard Dean, who the Dems de-railed in favor of Kerry....a decent man but a horrific candidate for a nationwide election...they should've let Dean get the nomination). Should this group peel off and run a third candidate a la Nader it will result in another decade of losses for the Democratic Party.
2. Eastern Europe, with the exception of Yugoslavia was Socialism foisted upon citizens without their consent and when they revolted in Hungary and Czech they were beaten down. In the end if fell from within; East Germans tore down the wall.
3. I disagree that Europe today is socialist. It is still a capitalist society where industry is owned by private individuals/stockholders (whereas "the state" owned all industry in the old Eastern Europe), however it has an extensive "welfare state."
4. Is it unhealthy for the ANC to carry 70%+ of the vote? Who cares, if it's what South Africans want so be it. Eventually a true second party will emerge as has recently happened in Mexico after almost 70 years of rule by the PRI, but it may be 50 years in the making...or it may be in 5 years.
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