

Does USA need an Arab Spring? - wslh
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/opinion/sunday/friedman-down-with-everything.html?ref=opinion

======
nextparadigms
I don't think anything but a campaign finance reform, that will cut the tie
between companies and Government, will work.

Currently the strongest relationship is between Corporations <-> Government,
and not People <-> Government. That's what's creating the whole mess. In other
countries such strong ties with companies and so much funding from them would
be considered illegal, and taken as bribing or corruption. But not in US. In
US their crimes have been legalized.

So I think the only solution is to outright ban companies from donating to
campaigns (that includes SuperPAC's and whatnot). There's an argument that
what if a company needs to preserve its rights or something? Well, I don't see
why a few people at the top of that company should decide that. If everyone
working for that company thought their company is in danger because of a new
legislation then they should all donate to their preferred candidate.

Of course such individual donations need to be capped to a few thousand
dollars at most, too. Otherwise rich individuals can still donate millions at
a time, which could easily make their candidate win a state or two. Do we
really think that allowing _one_ individual to completely change the outcome
of an election within a state, is what's "normal"?

The democratic vote is supposed to give everyone "equal power" to vote, and
that's still true when you're literally talking about the vote. But there's
also this virtual parallel vote, which is the money you can use to fund a
politician, and right now that "vote" can dramatically skew the results, when
cast by a few rich individuals or corporations. So you can see this as a
loophole in the voting system. Even if millions of people have their vote
equal, this parallel money-vote is not equal in power, and what's worse is
that it's also used to influence the real vote.

------
dotcoma
It's coming to Italy in 2013 - watch out! :)

------
Tangaroa
[http://www.compassdirect.org/english/country/egypt/article_1...](http://www.compassdirect.org/english/country/egypt/article_1512686.html)

<http://www.aina.org/news/20120208194830.htm>

[http://urbanchristiannews.com/ucn/2011/11/coptic-
christians-...](http://urbanchristiannews.com/ucn/2011/11/coptic-christians-
in-cairo-attacked-again-during-march.html)

[http://www.meforum.org/3085/muslim-declares-christians-
infid...](http://www.meforum.org/3085/muslim-declares-christians-infidels)

<http://www.aina.org/news/20111030133621.htm>

<http://www.aina.org/news/20111215163322.htm>

<http://www.aina.org/news/20120127193942.htm>

<http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/11/16/177570.html>

[http://www.tunisia-live.net/2011/12/11/discriminatory-
qualif...](http://www.tunisia-live.net/2011/12/11/discriminatory-
qualifications-for-tunisias-president-cause-controversy/)

[http://standwithus.fr/06/01/2012/virer-les-juif-tuer-les-
jui...](http://standwithus.fr/06/01/2012/virer-les-juif-tuer-les-juifs-scande-
a-laeroport-tunis-carthage/)

[http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/2899/tunisia-islamist-
poli...](http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/2899/tunisia-islamist-police)

[http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/38133/World/Regi...](http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/38133/World/Region/Salafists-
attack-Tunisias-stage-actors--.aspx)

[http://uncut.indexoncensorship.org/2012/04/tunisia-two-
athei...](http://uncut.indexoncensorship.org/2012/04/tunisia-two-atheist-
friends-convicted-for-blasphemy/)

[http://www.investigativeproject.org/3537/waiting-for-al-
qaed...](http://www.investigativeproject.org/3537/waiting-for-al-qaeda-in-
libya)

[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2106230/Insult-
WWII-...](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2106230/Insult-WWII-heroes-
Graves-British-soldiers-smashed-desecrated-Libyan-Islamists-protest-U-S-
soldiers-Koran-burning.html)

[http://blog.unwatch.org/index.php/2012/02/13/libya-tells-
un-...](http://blog.unwatch.org/index.php/2012/02/13/libya-tells-un-rights-
council-gays-threaten-continuation-of-human-race/)

[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianoce...](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/9059989/Libyan-
militia-accused-of-torturing-to-death-ambassador-to-France.html)

[http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2104578,00.htm...](http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2104578,00.html)

[http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-11-18/libya-s-
islamist...](http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-11-18/libya-s-islamists-
ransack-mosque-graves-in-power-struggle.html)

[http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/30/world/africa/libyan-
leader...](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/30/world/africa/libyan-leaders-
remark-favoring-polygamy-stirs-anger.html?_r=1)

[http://thewasat.wordpress.com/2011/11/01/is-al-qaida-in-
the-...](http://thewasat.wordpress.com/2011/11/01/is-al-qaida-in-the-islamic-
maghrib-gaining-influence-in-libya/)

<http://www.vice.com/read/al-qaeda-plants-its-flag-in-libya>

<http://www.persecution.org/>

No.

