You're being overly simplistic here, as you have been with the other things you're trying to argue.

Governments, electoral systems, social and political dynamics, policy making—these are complicated and nuanced, especially when you deal with a large population and non-elected officials. It's easy to say "everyone just…

I think that most debates on Tolkien, this one included, could stand a generous helping of respectfully disagreeing. The die-hards like to say that Tolkien is the master of prose and everything he wrote was gold, which is not true. From the other side, I've heard criticisms which were just as silly, though I have to…

I must have been about 11 when I read Sword of Shannara, and even then I was incredibly underwhelmed. I remember finishing the last chapter and thinking that the entire book could have been condensed into 150 pages or so. Flat characters which didn't leave any impression on me, a generic Dark Lord who was going to…

It was once common sense that black people were genetically inferior. Just saying.

You care to cite those demographic and immigration statistics?

For good or for ill, the Ainu have almost completely assimilated into Yamato culture and only a handfull of them still identify as ethnically separate. For the Ryukuans, the entire population of the Ruykyu island chain is only 1.5 million, and that figure…

I think you're missing what I'm trying to say here. While some countries *do* have it "easier"—Japan would be a good example—all I was trying to say was that the U.S. doesn't do terribly, all things considered (keep in mind that this survey only sampled 65 countries, and the poorest countries aren't represented at…

Canada has almost the exact same GDP per capita as the United States, and Australia has a significantly higher one.

Sort of. Japan and Korea certainly don't deal with immigration or cultural diversity. The metropolitan regions of China and Singapore have a good deal of both, but you're talking about wealthy districts more than countries at that point. This is less the case in Europe, but you'll still find a more ethnic homogeneity…

Well, the U.S. has a lot of things which could bring down that score, like large and diverse population, huge income inequalities, and a pretty high immigration rate, all of which you'd expect to bring down that score. Clearly there's room for improvement, hovering just below average in a list of 65 countries is…

I didn't realize that Macau did, but that makes sense—considering the colonial legacy of that area.

Also note that three of those statistics are from China. Then again, China's population is large enough that it might deserve more than one sample region.

I hadn't even considered the security issue. While I'd agree that forcibly removing something such as his eyeborg should be considered assault, that doesn't mean that they will or ought to be allowed anywhere. Someone lacking in scruples could put a camera or microphone in device like this . . .

I actually did this with my wife last year. I'd suggest starting with the original show, but only watching some of the episodes—Trouble with Tribbles; Mirror, Mirror; Amok Time; and Space Seed are referenced in the later films and shows, so at least watch them (though I really enjoy a lot of the TOS episodes). Then go…

Sure thing. But until we have at least the theoretical framework for a new system, one which has the potential to give up better results, clamoring for the end of democracy seems a bit foolish.

So let me get this straight: democracy has "failed" in the UK because of ministerial corruption and lobbying, therefore democracy as a concept "doesn't work," and we just need to try different systems of government?

Before you start preaching, do *you* have a better solution?

That is a far more complicated issue than you are giving it credit. I'd also argue that while income inequality is one of the largest problems we face in the world today, the number of people living under the poverty line (21%) is half of what it was in 1990, both in percentages and absolute terms. In fact, as…

Doesn't work in what capacity? In providing a high standard of living? Of distributing social justice more consistently than other regime types? In providing both legal and human rights? By a lot of standards, liberal democracy has worked QUITE well.

Many autocracies and semi-democracies also have robust economies, but…

All right, I'll bite. What do you think is so ridiculous about our economics?

. . . any political system has problems, and the UN has the impossible job of trying to reconcile disparate cultures and value systems, but what other type of system would you propose to have? All things considered, our modern political systems (I assume you talking about the West) have done pretty well compared to…