What Do U.S. Elections Look Like Abroad? | NYT Opinion
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- Опубликовано: 2 ноя 2020
- Turnout this election is projected to be the highest in a century, and voters are doing everything they can to make their voices count. Waiting in line for hours (even if you’re the mayor). Voting in person despite the pandemic because you fear that your mail-in ballot could be one of the 1.02 million that might be discarded. And casting a ballot despite the potential that someone with a semiautomatic rifle will be watching you at your polling place.
But, does voting have to be so … hard?
Not really. Just watch the video above and you’ll see it’s not like this in other democratic countries around the world. Voting in other democracies is a snap. And, if you’re really lucky, you might score a “democracy sausage.”
When we showed voters from around the world what American elections are like in practice, they weren’t impressed. But they were impressed with our resilience and determination. So, while the world’s “oldest democracy” may be a bit creaky these days, let’s be clear: Go vote! That’s really the best way to make a change.
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I’m not American, so I’ll tell you. It looks like a badly casted reality TV show.
45 in power that’s what it really is.
I am an American, so I'll tell you. It is a badly cast reality TV show.
I can vouch for that - an Aussie 😂
Exactly what I've been saying!
As an american, It pretty much is.
I'm not American and agree with non-Americans here. US election feels like a bad reality show on acid.
This is so true
acid spiked with chlorine.
It’s actually not that bad but it’s a real inconvenience to vote
True
Try living here mate! LOL. To the person that said it’s not that bad, it’s because they are clearly not a voting block being suppressed
How have the Americans the audacity to "bring democracy" to other countries when they don't have one themselves?
@Alle Warten Auf Das Licht lol
@Alle Warten Auf Das Licht They don't bring democracy. That might happen by accident. They only follow their own interests and are easily willing to remove democracy and bring a dictator to power (like Pinochet or Mobutu)
Yes, democracy.
Excellent comment.
@@brdrnda3805 or the ayatollah and revolutionary guard in IRAN
The US is missing some basics;
-Voting on weekends so workers can afford to attend
-Transparency on political donations
-Someone worth voting for
you mean a multi-party system instead of just one or the other. XD
@@nikedoesthings That wouldn't hurt at all, in the current system you really only have two choices unless enough people vote 3rd party to throw a scare into the big two.
In the Netherlands voting is on a tueseday too. It's not a religious day for any of the major faiths. And the polling place are open from 7 (I think?) to 21.00 and are everywhere. People have mandatory breaks in their workday, so you could go during work even. I've voted in the hospital when I was working there. I've never had to wait more than 5 minutes, or walk more then 5 minutes to get to my voting place. And that was true for my parents place in a small town as it is where I live now in one of the poorer and more diverse parts of my city.
@@ratofvengence This two party thing was a big mistake.
Or make Election Day a special nonworking holiday.
Estonia, a country that’s not even 30 years into a Democracy and has a better handling of a democracy than the Us
eh, to be fair it's kind of easier if you start off late, because you can look at all the mistakes other countries have made in their systems and adjust accordingly. Much harder to change an existing system than it is to make one from scratch.
Nothing speaks of America's facism more than free speech and gun rights that are ingrained in constitution regardless of the running president
I mean Estonia does have a smaller population than San Antonio. Not giving excuses, just pointing out a fact. Not to mention that this relatively small country had a 63.7% voter turnout percentage in the 2019 Estonian Parliamentary elections.
@@morowsixsixsix A constitution's just a piece of paper, and it means absolutely *nothing* if the institutions designed to protect it are being interfered with and weakened.
@@Mike_Hogsheart and they would most likely see american democracy as bad example
Watching from Iraq. The American people need some help to remove an authoritarian leader and stabilise the region
Yes, we do, actually! Take all the oil you want!
Bonus points for installing a new authoritarian, but one we like 👌🏻
Uh no, we don't. Trump wasn't exactly an ace, but there was no reasonable chance that he was going to hold onto power.
LOL
oh
Why should someone, who's already a citizen of a country, be forced to register in order to vote? This country is sick!
Right? In my country the closest I come to voter registration is to check if my address was updated in the voter records when I move. Just to check which constituency I’m voting in.
@@restlessly12 Here in Germany we have to register our address and change it every time we move. When we do it, the vote region is updated automatically.
In The Netherlands you do not even have to report your new address to the voting system; this is all done automatically as soon as you are registered as a citizen of a new municipality.
Generally speaking, in the US citizens are very much against having the "gummint" all up in our "bidness." US citizens are terrified of the government becoming a police state, which includes being forced to register (for voting and for lots of other things). See also en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Your_papers,_please
@@jb888888888 thank you for the link. For us Europeans it is completely incomprehensible why Americans are always so hysterical about such a topic and are so obsessed with Nazis, as if they had lived for years under an oppressive regime. We here in Germany, where privacy has an enormously high value in our lives and has therefore led to Google Street View being almost non-existent in the country, have no problem at all with the fact that we should carry our I.D. with us and must show it to authorities when asked to do so. And our I.D. includes also our home address which, as I wrote before, has to be officially registered every time we move to a new one. I know the politicians in my country are not holy angels (although the Chancellor's name "Angela" is 😉), but I still trust the administration and mostly the police, because all my life I had no reason no to do so.
"USA is the oldest democracy in the world"
Switzerland: "hello there..."
@@Balletified Greece has not been a continuous democracy. It was an empire several times in between.
Aaaand last but not least : San Marino. Even a bit earlier than Iceland.
By my research they are 7th... :)
@@CallistaZM it is still THE oldest, also the US is not a democracy, it is a plutocracy. Saying you are something and pretending it, doesn't mean you are, in my humble opinion, that is.
@@MariaChrysafidi I'm not saying I agree with any particular opinions, only stating what I'm sure the NYT was trying to say.
Everyone else: Seriously discussing the reality of voting in the U.S
Aussies: yea m8 there's this thing called the democracy sausage
Yeah that was embarrassing, from another Aussie. How off-topic.
Sounds great, I'm wondering why we dont have that in Germany.
Voting is mandatory in Australia, the whole country gets a day off, and they give them a sausage. It's a thing. It's awesome.
@@ShadowninJar Wait what? The sausage is free?
@@ShadowninJar Aussie's don't get a day off, elections are held on Saturdays and not that many people routinely work Saturdays. Also, I've never (thank god) been given a democracy sausage.
Best thing about the Australian electoral system is preferential voting within the two party preferred system.
“It’s like they don’t want Americans to vote...”
Exactly. Hahaha, HAHAHAHA - Please help us.
Yes thy are not have the monny and for that they are not Real ....
EXACTLY. Trump and his supporters have openly said that mail-in voting would be the end of the Republican party. They know that people don't like them and they are trying to make it difficult to vote.
And with the low minimum wage, I'll never be able to leave the country 😌
*cries in Georgia*
Indigenous ppl also had some democracies before europe colonized turtle island. We copied their list of ethics and then committed acts of genocide against them, the effects of which we perpetuate to this day.
"The US is the worlds oldest democracy"
The electoral college means that not all votes hold the same value which means that one of the criteria for democracy is not even met but go off i guess
Not oldest, Iceland, Isle of Man, etc etc
@e93 there are at least 600,000 reasons why at this point of time the US is appalling.
2nd biggest, 1st India, 3rd Indonesia.
No its fair, California has 55 votes cause it has the largest population, followed by Texas38 , NY 29, FL 29 etc etc.
California is blue so democrats don't want its number to be reduced but other than that, its a good reflection of how the country feels.
@@samarc4467 nom sense, Hilary had 3 million more votes the the Orange turnip. In no way in any properly functioning democracy would he have won. Absolutely not a reflection of how the country felt. 3 million people’s votes were effectively ignored, not a democracy, a federal republic and the laughing stock of real democracies.
I live in inner-city London. Last election I put the kettle on, walked out of my house to the local school where the polling station was, voted, came back home, poured myself out a cup of tea.
this is the most british way to vote
America is like that loud student in class who never practices what he preaches. Basically, loud, all fancy facade but no substance
Maybe that's the ultimate reason they voted Trump in, in the first place. I hadn't thought of it before but he is the perfect reflection of that image.
Lol man seeing comments like this really shows how little the world wants/needs us around!
@@insertclevernamehere2506 we didnt like trump
@@ztriderztrider8651 It's not that we don't want you around, it's just that your house is in such disarray and, sorry to say, you're a rather loud bunch when traveling. Clean house and tone down the USA, USA chants while in other countries and you'll be welcomed with open arms.
America is like that loud group of 50 students in class who have differing things that they preach.
"The United States is the world's oldest democracy."
Ancient Greece: *"Am I a joke to you?"*
Ancient Greece didn't exist, only city states like Athens and Sparta.
@@henk-3098 I know, but I thought that would be easier to understand.
@@henk-3098 so you really want to ignore a) the Hellenic league and b) the spirit of what he said: Athens as State was democratic long long long before the US were conceived.
I was thinking the same thing, I thought the ideas of democracy and a republic came from Greece and Rome, they even taught us that in US school, that's why the monuments in Washington DC have a Roman/Greek aesthetic
I’m guessing they mean “oldest continuous democracy”. If Ancient Greece maintained their democratic process unobstructed for thousands of years, then they’d win that argument no-question.
64% !!! In Denmark, we talk about whether we have a democratic problem when the voting percentage falls below 80. Which it almost never does.
2020 Irish elections...I walked from from my front door to the local parish. Voted. And was back home.... All in ten minutes. All done on good ol pen and paper
Australian - 30 minutes for a nice walk, queueing, vote and return. Also on paper but I didn't get a sausage last time :-(
Pretty much the same in NZ.
Same in the UK. Just walked straight in, got my ballot paper and was out again in 2 minutes! Took me longer to walk to the polling station than to vote!
I walked 8 minutes to my polling station. Waited in line behind 3 people and thought to myself: "I chose a horrible time to vote, way to busy." Waited 5 minutes. Handed the two cards (my municipality had a referendum on the same day) I got send in the mail and my ID to the person at the counter. Got my ballots. Chose my representative from a wallpaper of choices and yes/no in the referendum. Put those papers in a sealed container and left the building. Walked 8 minutes back home.
Voting in the Netherlands in 2021.
Same in germany. And the results at 7pmthe same day!
The myth of american democracy......lol. the whole world is watching.
It’s a democratic republic
My ancestors would not believe me when I tell them a German girl was judging American voting systems
@@speedrat6508 Indeed, the United States does not maintain a monarchical form of government; having chosen, instead, a representative federal government composed of the Executive, the Legislative and Judicial branches, each with their own institutional prerogatives, organized along independent and co-ordinate institutional structures.
That's all that phrase means: We don't have cabinet government under a monarchical head of state.
Stop confusing governance structure with regime type; they're not the same thing.
You can be an absolute monarchy or a constitutional monarchy. One is not democratic; neither is republican
You can be a dictatorship or a representative republic. One is not democratic; both are republican.
Bruh dose no one know that san marino is the oldest democracy
@@qhmr869 The oldest republic, not the oldest democracy. There is a difference, though the definition of a republic implies that democracy was practiced to an extent.
Only Americans are convinced they are "The first/best" democracy in the world. The rest of the actually democratic world is looking at the US like : Seriously bro ? 😑
Only the uneducated half think we are the first/best democracy.
Firstly, the United States isn't exactly a Democracy as Democracy implies Pure Democracy or Direct Democracy. I assume we are something of a Constitutional Republic and Representative Democracy (or Democratic Republic, pick your term).
When it comes to being the first Democracy. Well that would be wrong as Athens was the birthplace of Democracy.
When it comes to best "Democracy". It seems like that could be rather subjective.
@@hashy0x43 exactly 💯
Lol man seeing comments like this really shows how little the world wants/needs us around!
@virginia rodriguez That's not where I was going with that.
Greetings from Michigan!
@virginia rodriguez Nope, we see America as suffering from a serious superiority complex.
"the us is the oldest democracy" laughs in the midieval european republics.
San Marino and Switzerland are just chilling
Me, a non-American: Wow. Just, wow. The US should be ashamed.
The US is it’s people. And no we’re not ashamed. We are strong in the face of constant opposition from our government. It’s the government that should be ashamed. But the country is not its government....
@@Jah_LEASE_yah Your politicians come from amongst you, they are not bred in a factory separately. You should ask yourselves, why is there no change when you actually vote for people to represent you and your policies?
@@59375 God no. Our politicians do not come from amoung us. They come from the wealthy elite. Most American politicians are white males who come from very wealthy families and some even political families like the Bushes, Kennedy’s and Clinton’s. They are elites who come into power for the purpose of keeping institutional power amoung white wealthy men and perpetuating the subjugation of all the rest of us. What is in Congress is not representative of what the country is. The country is filled with diversity. Women men, black white, Latin, Asian, rich, poor, and lgbtq+. So many different demographics are not properly represented in congress. Thankfully things are changing. Since Trump more people that are actually representative of real Americans were elected to office then ever before creating the most diverse congress in history but it is still overwhelmingly white wealthy and male. We still got a long way to go before the promise of a a government for and by the people is actually realized. But like I said the government is not the country. The country is the people and the American people are truly amazing.
@@Jah_LEASE_yah, but you vote them in! They ARE from amongst your nation, they are Americans themselves…
Your electoral system is dangerously severed from the freedom to express your political opinion. You don’t vote for your Presidents and your Legislature can pick and choose how it will be elected. And to top it off, you don’t even have a political spectrum within your entire political infrastructure.
Politicians everywhere can be and most often are corrupt and disinterested in the actual needs of the people, but in many countries (America excluded) at least they are voted in via a system most can agree is fair. And yours (which you as a society obviously tolerate) is absolute trash.
@@gerginborisov we vote them in but as the video clearly expressed, the American voting system is set up to suppress voters of color, and give certain candidate unfair advantages. I don’t disagree that the voting system and the government is broken. My point was that Americans should not be ashamed of their country because the country’s identity is not in the government. Our identity is in our citizens. Yes the members of Congress are citizens as well, but they are mostly made up of a very specific demographic that is totally detached from that lives and needs of all of the rest of America. They are not a representation of what we all are. And they are the ones that need to be ashamed of themselves. Not us.
They didn't even get to the weirdness of the Electoral College system.
Or First Past the Post voting. (Though, I wouldn't know, but maybe other countries still have that as well. I know Australia uses RCV (think they call it IRV), but I don't know about the others.)
I think the idea of the electoral college isn't really weird, certainly not in a historical context. The problem is the uneven distribution. For me "winner takes all" in all but a few states is stranger.
First past the post is used in a majority of the countries but still I agree STV away to go
No one understands the Electoral College. Like 95% of people don’t really get it. Especially historically. The electoral college makes sense to me when i see how America was built, As a democratic republic.
Singapore's legislative election has some similarity to the Electoral College System, with ~80 of our Parliament's 93 seats amalgamated together into GRCs (Group Representative Constituencies) of 4-6 seats each that're collectively contested. The purpose is ostensibly to preserve minority race representation in Parliament (with 1 or 2 seats per constituency reserved for Malays or Indians). The political party whose contesting group of candidates of each constituency who wins the most votes wins all of that constituency's seats, irregardless of how big the winning margin is. So that's probably how the People Action Party managed to win 83/93 seats with 61% of the popular vote. Former manpower minister Josephine Teo might also have been able to 'save' herself, after her ministry (which overseas migrant workers' safety, documentation & lodging) was criticised following the large spread of CoViD-19 in the countries' migrant workers' dormitories, by moving herself out of the single-seat Marymount constituency into the 4-seat Jalan Besar constituency to contest in the election that was to be held a few months afterwards (July 2020), since in the latter she's grouped with 3 other candidates, 2 of whom are/were experienced ministers (Denise Phua & Indranee Rajah) that could help shore up support
this Indian lady is getting it all right. "It's like you want to stop people from voting." Yes. That is exactly what they want to do.
Amen
Yes I want to stop people like illegal immigrants to stop voting because it’s legally not allowed
@@jacobvideos4164 America is stopping it’s own population from voting. Well, mostly minorities of course
@@maxonite some people just shouldn’t be able to vote. There are people on both sides of politics who have no business controlling our government. If you think all people’s opinions have equal validity, you must not think too highly of yourself
@@jacobh674 who, exactly do you think should not be allowed to vote?
Why?
"The oldest democracy" - that's really funny.
It strikes me as funny too. Could that mean the oldest continuously running modern style one?
They meant the oldest democracy founded as a democracy and still running continuously under that same system. Ancient Greece, where democracy was invented, is not at all the same as modern Greece, it has changed many times.
@@CallistaZM iceland? Going strong since 930
Yah those are not true democracies. Medieval and Ancient City-States, Confederations, and Tribal Alliances did have some voting, but none of the complexities that Modern Democracy has. By all definitions, Modern Democracy was Invented by the US by using Enlightenment Ideals from UK/France. The enlightenment does have roots in the renaissance and therefore, by extension, the Greco-Roman world, but it's indirect. To say Greeks or Swiss or Iceland have the claim to creating democracy is a common myth, and one built with the intention to discredit the Founding Father's next-level innovativeness.
i feel like someone is repeating message/response
0:25 “The United States is the world’s oldest democracy”
Laughs in Ancient Greek
Yah those are not true democracies. Medieval and Ancient City-States, Confederations, and Tribal Alliances did have some voting, but none of the complexities that Modern Democracy has. By all definitions, Modern Democracy was Invented by the US by using Enlightenment Ideals from UK/France. The enlightenment does have roots in the renaissance and therefore, by extension, the Greco-Roman world, but it's indirect. To say Greeks or Swiss or Iceland have the claim to creating democracy is a common myth, and one built with the intention to discredit the Founding Father's next-level innovativeness.
@@b.ballooon9225 You are saying it wasn't a true democracy yet you are judging that based on today's standards in which case you would be right. However it was the original democracy where all free men had the right to vote. By their standards what we have isn't a true democracy. Anyhow even on that you are wrong as it was San Marino that had the first continuous modern democracy and all people could vote unlike the US where black people only got that right with the 15th amendment I believe.
@@giorgosx5838 You're right, I am judging it based on today's standards. Intentionally though. I'm not saying I'm not impressed by what these groups achieved for their time, I am very impressed and love Greco-Roman culture. But I'm sick of the myth that American Democracy owes most of it's hard work and innovation to Greece or San Marino or Iceland. I don't see much of a difference between this Original Democracy and Tribalist Proto-Voting systems. The Vikings had something call the Althing, I don't see why what San Marino had or the Greek City States had was much more impressive. And once again, all 3 of these things are impressive, but they aren't so impressive that I'd call them an revolution of society,
Jeffersonian and Parliamentarian are. Millions died for the rights of these systems over a thousand years. From Manga Carta to the English Civil War to the Revolutionary war to the Napoleonic Wars, I'm sorry but I refuse to put Original Old Style Simplistic Democracies in the same boat. The original democracies more just gravitated gradually towards that life, they didn't have massive civil wars/revolutions to create a specifically planned system. It was created out of necessity, I'm sure many practiced early democratic ideas because it led to more unity within the tribe. These forms of democracy were very easy to create due to human nature preferring them in small populations. Much easier to have a democratic system with a few men making decisions, but that idea was impossible in civs that had high populations. Which is why the Founders had to think WAYYY outside the box to create Modern Jeffersonian Democracy.
Now if you were to claim Modern Democracy would not exist without Original, you are correct. Indirectly, things like the Althing, San Marino, and Greek City States were all great inspiration for Renaissance/Enlightenment ideas. But the details, the hard part, that was mostly done by Americans, French, and British.
Yah I'm sure San Marino had plenty of different ethnicities to be racist towards (not). On top of all that, I'm sure like all others during the time, they participated in some slavery, meaning not totally democratic.
@@b.ballooon9225 Don't get me wrong, I didn't say you are hating on cultures or something, nor am I downplaying the role of the US in today's society. There have been many things invented by the US that improved our life. I would say it's impressive because it was a political regime way ahead of its time. (Funny how in sparta women actually had the same power as men unlike in the Athenian democracy though lol). Democracy wasn't created out of necessity and civil wars were way too common in ancient Greece considering that city states may have been seperate but in the end all together made it what we call ancient Greece. No but there were other countries too that had democracy and didn't have only one ethnic group in their lands. San Marino I believe did have some slavery at some point too yeah. This entire chain of comments was based on the original talking about the worlds first democracy. I didn't mean to downplah the achievents of the US
@@giorgosx5838 Yah np, I just hear the whole "US isn't the first democracy" thing a lot. Like technically it isn't the first, but it is the first democracy in the way we see democracy today, in a society with millions of people. That's why I would honestly prefer if historians/anthropologists just came out and defined certain political situations better. They should call what the Vikings, San Marino, and City States had Proto-Democracy. Just like Proto-Civilizations exist, no reason Proto-Democracy can't be what we use to define those civs. Otherwise we risk teaching people that there is no difference between modern democracy and old small-scale democracy.
I'm a South African living in the township. It took me around 5-10 minutes to vote in our last elections. I repeat, in a township. In a third-world country!
YEAH im brazilian, and i voted right after noon(the biggest line is usually at that time) and it took me 20 minutes to WALK to my voting college and vote, and the results are out 4/5h after the elction ended
The US is a third world country at this point
I live in Denmark and it takes me less than a minute to vote. Going to parliamentary elections in my country is considered a bit like a holiday, a celebration of democracy.
I'm not sure I would rank South Africa as a third world country.
But then I have not been sure for two decades whether I should rank the U.S. as a first world country. ;)
@@Quotenwagnerianer South Africa, for all intents and purposes, should be a first world country. It has the potential to be one, more so than any other African country. Unfortunately, we are run by idiots that have us stuck in the middle-income trap. The US has regressed so much that I'd argue that they deserve third-world status just to shake them out of their doldrums and put the massive 21 trillion dollars of their economy to actual use outside of the military (600 billion on killing equipment is too much - nearly double South Africa's economy).
Watching from the UK it looks like you guys are naked and starving and still think you live in paradise.
LOL
Hmmm......North Korea vibes
Xd
Thats the life we dug are selfs into mate :
Lol man seeing comments like this really shows how little the world wants/needs us around!
I took the the morning off to vote my boss was like cool, we will rotate the shift so everybody get a little time off to go vote. It took us about 5 minutes each, travel included.
I live in Canada 🍁
"Fight to vote and then change the system by voting" - sadly america is a 2 party system where neither of which are really campaigning for any sort of overhaul to the election process. Sure, I'm from the UK, we have a two party system, but at least most of us can all easily vote
you guys seriously need to reform this system, wtf
Oh, we know.
Trust me, we know.
LMFAOO
The system favors the republicans to help them win so its hard to reform when half the country likes it
@lagoom it does now but that’s not always how it’s been. Democrats have gerrymandered in other elections too. Why is it not outlawed by now?!
It just shows how laughable we are. And how racist our country. I'm ashamed to be an American if this is what we stand for.
Yeah, y'all should check www.adfontesmedia.com/ once in a while
Its the politicians and special interests not the country
@@abrahamlincoln5185 I understand, but they're elected representatives after all
My god. Shut-up, move and take your cat-of-nine-tails with you!
It's why the rest of the world laughs at US statements of righteousness, I afraid.
Hey! We get a free sticker with our mail-in ballots!
**secretly envies the democracy sausage**
"the United states is the worlds oldest democraty" some 16e century dutch boi: ARE YOU SURE ABOUT THAT
Here in the UK, walked to my polling station from my house, voted, came back - total journey time: 12 mins
Same, 7pm walked in, one other person voting, tick in box, done. Took two minutes. The USA is just so dramatic with everything, it’s a joke.
@@amnril same in France, the school is right next ot my door. 33 to 5 people always in line, takes 10 min and you can get home and have a sausage or beer or whatever
It really depends on where you are in America. It took me 5 minutes to vote in California. It took about 30 minutes in Texas. In some places, depending on the majority race of your neighborhood, it can take about a whole day.
Here in Australia, my local polling place is the Local High School, it's about 1km away from my house, I always walk there and it takes me about 10 minutes to walk it (I use a walking stick) depending on the time of the day, (it's always a Saturday BTW), I'm usually done in under an hour, Last election I went in later and there was like 3 people in line waiting to vote, took me all of 2 minutes inside the booth, and I was home in 3/4 of an hour, (I took some time to socialize with some people and alas there was no sausage sizzle so I dipped out there) but 3/4 of an hour and I was done. Hate to think how that would pan out in the US.
It took perhaps 20 minutes from the time I left my place until the time I got back. Time spent at the polling station: at most 5 minutes (as there were 2 other people waiting in line). The rest of the time was spent walking.
In Portugal voting is always on sunday, you get automaticaly registered once you turn 18, and everyone can vote, even inprisoned people
Same in Germany, you may loose your right to get voted, but you can’t loose your right to vote for someone else (unless your mental health is too bad).
Same in Sweden.
Same in Poland
👍👍❤
Portugal 🇵🇹 🥰
My God I'm shocked. America is not what I always thought it was... at all. I wish you better. Fight (peacefully) for it.
YA’LL are so GREAT!!! Thank you all for the encouragement. It has been a NIGHTMARE.
I'm in high school in Europe, and everyone has been frantically checking the election results between classes every day. Damnit America.
I hope you're not still checking.
@@fritzfiedler1807 nah, it's Biden and we've moved on lmao. Just waiting to see if Donald Trump doesn't go full authoritarian and refuse to let go😂
@@younazilberberg1650 I hope it"s Biden by vote and not court. If this mess goes to the Supreme court, hen you can go to watching again.
Really? Omg I’m so interested in what the rest of the world has thought of this 2020 Presidential election here in the US. What was it like watching the debates and talking to your friends in between classes at school? Were they wanting Biden or Trump mainly? Was it the topic of everything people talked about, including the teachers? If you could please elaborate just a bit on what the environment was like that’d be great.
@@ransomg9479 Ehh, so I guess I am late and I can't speak for the other Person, but I can tell you how it was here in Germany :)
The News were full of the election in the US and like OP said, even in schools it was very discussed. In every break we would check how the counting in the states had advanced and we would speculate what would happen next. Here in Germany most people favoured Biden, so were very concerned when we read in the news in one break how he wanted to stop the votes and go to court. While it was certainly not as intense as it was in the US, we were still heavily invested in this election :D
I hope you can forgive probable grammer mistakes haha
I‘m so sorry for you American people. Gosh, what a mess this system Is!
Its not that mad the only problem we have is that our president is rubbish
Please send help
@USA 2 MEXICO i guess it worked this time! Can definitely be improved though...
@USA 2 MEXICO it _worked_ but it didn't represent the people, and it can use some simple changes to make it work better so we have more consistent elections. We need change so that we can have who the people elect be president.
Yep! The rest of the world is like a USB and USA is like a floppy disk.
Great format. It's not about showing them down. It's about showing them there's better ways to do this.
We get a day off when it's election day, Nation wide, then you'll get this ink sign on your pinky that proved that you're already voted. And on that day, a lot of business are giving discount to everybody who has already voted. And that's from a developing country
And yeah, it took me about 5 minutes if I was going in the morning, or 10-15 if it was at noon
Man in America: “7 hours 45 minutes and 13 seconds.”
Me here is Canada (walks past a community centre):“Oh, they allow early voting? I have 5 minutes before I get my coffee.”
Canada, too. Last election I voted at work, there was a polling station in the corridor downstairs. I was just walking by, so it took me about a minute.
It's not always that great, last federal election it took about an hour to get through my community line, however 8 hours is complete bs
The last election for me in Germany was for me only some minutes. Unfortunately it took longer cause my parents met friends so they talked and talked...
@@NicholasAlm You should complain. I've voted close to one hundred times in Vancouver, and the longest it's ever taken is ten minutes.
i'm from switzerland. the ballot is sent to my house, i fill it in, glue the opening together, toss it into the nearest mailbox, done. we do this 4 to 5 times a year on about 3 to 5 policy matters each as well. so to me it's simply unbelievable to hear how complicated this system is wtf
I have such an admiration for the swiss voting system.
I live in the US and this is also how I vote. We have over 50 different election systems because each state sets their own rules. This video works by mixing and matching the worst examples from each state's system, pretending they all apply to the entire nation, and then soliciting reactions from people who couldn't know better. Some states definitely need to get their acts together, but the video itself is pretty dishonest.
@@GoneZombie Already the fact that there are differences between states in how you vote is scandalous.
@@btudrus I think that uniformity would be a virtue, but not at any cost. Realistically, the early United States functioned more like the modern European Union than the more centralized nation we know today. Do you suggest that EU member states forfeit the right to run their own elections? Catching vapors at the mere thought of such a horrifying scandal? I can't conceive of any nation freely joining a union that would mandate ceding electoral control. The US would simply never have formed.
@@GoneZombie comparing *early* US to the EU is quite fair. However the EU changes to meet the new demands of its member states and the cooperation between them.
The US once decided the system is perfect and has refused to change since. Sure the independence of the states has been gutted, even shifting defence matters to the union. But to suggest doing the same for voting is considered blasphemous by those in power
"It's like you want to stop people from voting" - Well yes, that has been the republican concept for decades
Montreal Canada here. Paused the BigBang Theory series rerun I was watching. Walked 3 min down the street to a church recreation building. Walked in. Made an X on a paper. Returned Home. Total 9 minutes. Continued watching my show.
It makes me laugh every time I hear the words democracy and freedom used in the same sentence as America
Ok I'll step up to bat. What is so undemocratic and oppressing about America?
@@jacobmuraco4276 it's a police state with a completely corrupt political system and a list of human rights violations as long as my arm. as a nation the u.s is certainly not alone in this regard but the constant waffle about freedom and democracy and the greatest nation on earth is frankly galling and preposterous
@@davidcunningham9282 We are in no way a police state, while there is corruption to say that it is complete is a gross exaggeration, and past human right violations aren't necessarily indicative of the current status of our democracy. I also really don't understand the complaint of "waffle of freedom and democracy", would you rather we praise oppression and dictatorships? and I'd challenge you to find a nation better then the US. We are by no means perfect, but don't take that as meaning this nation is a bad one.
@@jacobmuraco4276 Voter suppression, gerrymandering, 2 party system, electoral college, just to name a few.
'Better' is rather subjective of course but if you value things like education, healthcare, happiness, democracy, functioning infrastructure and people not shooting each other, basically every single first world country will do but for the best probably Scandinavian countries.
@@elwinwinter We don't have a two party system, voter suppression is more of an overblown issue (as I type this), Gerrymandering and the EC are stupid, but they aren't necessarily undemocratic. And saying "find me a better country" was probably a little short sighted of me, but that doesn't at all mean the US is a bad place. There's a reason so many people want to immigrate here.
"The United States is the world's oldest democracy"
Nothing like a quick quip of American exceptionalism to get the affection of foreigners
Is it the oldest surviving democracy?
IMO it’s iceland and definitely not USA
But this extract from an article might be interesting to you?
Russell Campbell, Dunedin, New Zealand
Lots of them can. And do. Greece has a pretty good claim having invented the concept in the first place. However, long spells as an Ottoman colony or under military junta might put it out of the running if you're looking for longest continuously democratic country. Britain has a decent claim but it depends what you mean by democracy. As Rowan Atkinson put it in Blackadder: "take Manchester for instance. Population: 60,000. Electoral roll: 3". America frequently claims to be but this is because they define democracy so narrowly and in their own image such that on their criteria they're the worlds only democracy and on any other criteria they still aren't and never have been.
Seth, Edinburgh, Scotland
Perhaps Iceland can - their parliament, the Althing, is the oldest one still in use. It was formed in 930 by Vikings.
www.theguardian.com/notesandqueries/query/0,,-80426,00.html
@@jc.1191 San Marino is oldest democracy and oldest republic (still existing).
Ancient Greece: Are we a joke to you?!
@@Competitive_Antagonist ancient greek polis were mostly oligarchy or monarchy.
When America has an election:
Americans: I hope my party gets BIG WIN!
Everyone else: Look, they're about to do something stupid.
In Canada, employers are required to give their employees a certain amount of time off work on election day so they can vote.
Wait wait. It took him the amount of time it takes for me to fly from London to New York?
Love the personality from this woman.
LMFAOO
India might be far better democracy than US where 900+ million were eligible and 600+ millions showed up on polling day in last election
@Deepraj Chavan 3% better in a poorer country with a far larger population and astronomically more challenging logistics.
@Deepraj Chavan bruh, we have a month of elections😊
@Deepraj Chavan oh my bad.
With dumb ridiculous jokers as MLAs and MPs, mera bharat mahan..
typical upper caste blabber.. it's alright, 'cause I'm okay.. dalits are dying in sewer, but I'm okay..
@@rajadhirajmaharaj Not to mention the rising Right wing authoritarianism under the BJP rule.
Can't "keep the same energy" when every day is a smackdown.
"Change gonna come." And it will, it's just sad that in many places round the world much of the desired change has happened while the "land of the free" is still trying to loose those shackles
This is insane... I'm not even sure I would call this a democracy.
It's like an oligarchy
@@jillzy1182 you really need to learn how to shorten stuff if you want to keep people’s attention
Flowersandlemons It's not It's an oligarchy! A small group of the super rich.
About 1% of the population run America and have the overwhelming majority of the money. The politicians are just a show to make Americans think they have a democracy. To prove that it's always been this way is the fact that America had slavery.
How can you speak of freedom, rights, justice while being a slave holding country?
@@kentmorton2872 Britain, France, Brazil, Portugal, Spain, And much of Latin America also had slavery I don’t want to hear it.
@@rextheelder7998 your not to bright are you? Did any of the country's that you mentioned claim to be a democracy while still having slavery?
Those country's were monarchies. Brazil was a colony of a monarchy.
"the World's oldest democracy" i think someone needs a history lesson
I think they mean the oldest, continuously running, democracy
@@johnkeefer8760 The republic of San Marino was founded in 1200. 1503-1600 an absolute monarch ruled, but on the 8th of October 1600 a new constitution was made. So the democracy in San Marino is 176 years older than the USA.
@@kaubate9436 true. They also would need to add “major” to their list of clauses. It certainly was not a precise statement to begin with
i think they were to mean world oldest constitution
@@kaubate9436 very odd that some monarchy”s are one of the best forms of defending democracy at this point. Especially in UK, Sweden and Denmark.
At what point do we say the US isn't a democracy? Part of me feels like we're already past that point.
The official scientific word for it is "incomplete democracy"
i'm an american citizen and i didn't even know how the election works here either. all i knew was the electoral college part.
“ Athens is often regarded as the birthplace of democracy and remains an important reference-point for democracy. “ - Wikipedia
Americans : 👁👄👁
@bongo155 Why?
@bongo155 And?
@Is me ? San Marino, a country in Europe, has been a Republic since the XIII century
Americans: Athens/TX, Athens/AL or Athens/TN?
@Is me ? in what way is the US a running democracy?
America has the biggest entertainment industry in the world..😎
it IS the biggest entertainment industry
Yup! Politics is a thriller, Society is a tragedy, Economics is horror. True dat!
In size maybe, but they are copying our old shows. Greetings from Italy.
@@troddenleper8915 I can't believe how well it all fits.
What you expect when they elected a d list reality tv celebrity as President. They got what they voted for
In Australia, voting is compulsory and on a Saturday. You can hand the ballot in with nothing on it but you have to turn up and cross your name off or you get fined. The sausages aren't free, they're done by charities or community groups to fund raise. The US system sounds like a nightmare but if you're born into it and brainwashed about how fantastic you are then it won't change. Having said that, I've never met an American that I didn't like, but I haven't met any American politicians yet.
In India, either the polling days are scheduled on a Sunday or public holiday or it becomes one.
Last general elections, I went from my house to a public school, stood in line for about 5 minutes and voted and came out in like another.
I literally screamed “other countries don’t have gerrymandering?!” And said I’m moving 😭😭😭
Of course they don't, nor would any 1st world country anywhere allow such an obvious cheating tool to exist. You might as well make a rule banning anyone over 30 from voting if they're liberal, since it makes as much sense and is equally corrupt.
Yeah, rest of world uses regular county/district borders.
The uk parliament can change the borders for each seat but it tends to happen with the census changes
Many countries don't have electoral districts at all or they are unimportant. Most of Europe uses proportional representation.
@@jonmel i dont think the uk is considered the rest of the world when it comes to issues with the usa.
2:36 "Nobody hears the word Purge and thinks of anything positive."
......never been constipated?
@@panchopuskas1 toucheé! 😁
@@panchopuskas1 very good, that got a lol.
@@panchopuskas1 Even if constipated purge still doesn't sound positive!, just an unfortunate necessity! :D
it's cool seeing how invested other countries are in the American election, frantically checking results....speaking as a Canadian I know it was the same for everyone I knew too. I know everyone bags on the U.S a lot but we really do want the best for you Americans....growing up your presence is always there, (movies, tv, yada yada) you are seen as one of the greatest countries. I know the American people will always fight for making their country what we see it to be...an ideal to strive for
“When you're born into this world, you're given a ticket to the freak show. If you're born in America you get a front row seat.”
― George Carlin
The man crying because he gets to vote is kinda heartbreaking. So happy for you man. Glad you got to take your kids with you and show then how important it is to vote.
I''m happy for him by proxy. I'll never get to vote with my grandmother or mother now, because our healthcare is broken, too, but I'm happy for him.
I'm from a third world country and even I think that 7 hours to vote is unacceptable.
It didn’t take me 7 hours to vote I just do a mail in ballot that takes 10 minutes.
This is insane! Last election in my country, i drove to my voting station, cast my vote and went home, a total of 22 minutes and of those 22 min, 20 minutes was driving.
I'm Canadian. I think from the moment I drive into the parking lot to the time I drive away... the absolute longest it's ever taken me to vote was, MAYBE ten minutes. It's usually about 5 total. If you're just counting from when I get to the door to when I leave - on average Maybe 3 minutes.
Same here in the US don’t believe this propaganda.
Bro wtf, you have to register in advance and queue up for hours just to vote... ON A TUESDAY!?
I live in a latinoamerican country where you have to register to vote as well. I'm curious, how is automatic registration done? Once you turn 18 you're eligible to vote?
@@ginandromeda1618 I don't know about other countries, but yes where I live you're basically eligible to vote for anything as soon as you turn 18.
Voting is basically done per neighborhood in local schools, or other state owned buildings that can host it, during the weekend , though I think it's generally on Sundays only.
They have lists of the people eligible to vote in that neighborhood and extra lists for those who originate from other places but chose to vote there. They scan your ID, assign you someone to assist you, you sign some papers, they give you the voting ballot, you vote, then you get your ID back with a little sticker on the back of it showing you voted.
It takes 2-5 minutes and you don't need any prep work. You go in, vote, go out.
not everywhere, I live in washington state where we have same day registration and have had all mail in elections for state local and federal since 2008. voting here is extraordinarily easier than in Georgia, Florida, or texas especially compared to polling centers in minority communities.
@@ginandromeda1618 in Brazil you can register to vote from 16 yo and by 18 to 70 yo if you don’t vote you have to justify or pay a fine. The registration is done to link you to the nearest electronic ballot box to your home and avoid queues.
yup. which makes it incredibly hard for students (young people) and poor people that have to work to make time to go vote. another form of voting suppression. At least now there's pushes to officially make Election Day a national holiday
The USA is not the world's oldest democracy. San Marino is.
Athens and Rome are older.
@@yellowplate4539 Was my first thought as well, but maybe it refers to "continuous"? Greeks had some centuries interruption?
@@yellowplate4539 I'm pretty sure they mean oldest continuously running democracy. Not even Americans could overlook Athens and Rome
@@TheFlygon13 probably. No one cares that our ancestors contributed to our ancient democracies like Athens and Rome
I’m not sure what the oldest continuous democracy is as the meaning is very vague (universal suffrage or not)but I can think of many older examples than 1776 USA.
"The United States is the world's oldest democracy"
Ancient Greece: *Am I a joke to you*
Ancient Greece is not a country.
@@ottovonbismarck1352 Sure...
@@Cybernaut551 The term Ancient Greece refers to a civilization of multiple city states and small kingdoms on the Greek peninsula not a unified country.
Even then : San Marino is a republic with constitution of 1600. Parliamental representative democracy even with splitted head of state in two people, so even the executive is splitted in half. Many countries were democracies before the USA, but they are maybe the second modern democratic Republic. That's not so much.
"vote to change the system" - ok, which of the two parties vows to abolish gerrymandering? #don't hold your breath
I think the Democrats are trying to but there's one of them in Congress that refuses.
Im from Germany, and it took me about 5 minutes to vote. As the woman from Germany said: You are registered automatically if you're eligible to vote. You then get a reminder sent to ur house a few weeks prior to the election. This letter also contains the Mail-In Ballot. If you wanna vote In-Person, you just go to the polling place that is written on your notification. The line wasn't that long, because almost every public place (mostly schools) are used at a polling place on election day (Sunday).
It's almost the same here at Indonesia. Except the election day is usually at Wednesday but it become a National holiday.
Same here in the US it took me 10 minutes I did a mail in ballot. Don’t believe NYT.
It's a great system you have in Germany.
@@noahremnek3615 yeah but you firstly need to be able to vote by mail which is very difficult in some states
Same here in Ireland 🇮🇪🇪🇺
Watching from abroad, I am torn between laughing hysterically or crying.
This is not a democracy if you are gerrymandering, don't have automatic voters' registration, proportional representation, easy access, make voting day a holiday, purge votes and practice felony disenfranchisement.
Yes it does. Because none of these problems define us as a different system of government.
@Souven Tudu more pointing out facts.
such a great commrnt
Isn't Greece the birthplace of democracy, the worlds oldest democracy?
Yah those are not true democracies. Medieval and Ancient City-States, Confederations, and Tribal Alliances did have some voting, but none of the complexities that Modern Democracy has. By all definitions, Modern Democracy was Invented by the US by using Enlightenment Ideals from UK/France. The enlightenment does have roots in the renaissance and therefore, by extension, the Greco-Roman world, but it's indirect. To say Greeks or Swiss or Iceland have the claim to creating democracy is a common myth, and one built with the intention to discredit the Founding Father's next-level innovativeness.
P.S. Other tribes/cultures had created forms of voting prior to even the Greeks, point being, voting is not new, democracy, real democracy that works across cities, long-term, and applies to masses, is very new. Created by Founding Fathers, spread by Napoleon and later Americans.
I had a cup of tea & some apple tart at my local electoral station. Chatting to my neighbours and catching up. Ireland I'm in by the way.
I'd be so ashamed if I lived in the US. And you call this a democracy??
@@Honestcritic79 Yes unfortunately
@@Honestcritic79 Yes, you do not keep a monarchical form of government. Got it.
I live in the US and yes, we are ashamed.
@@Honestcritic79 You should move out, too and give the lands to the Native Americans back, if you can't realize your hypocrisy.
@@Honestcritic79 republic is a form of transfer of power, democracy, if we translate it, is a peoples power where the majority determine lifestile of the whole nation. So such things as democratic republic can exist, it actually exist in many european countries, but not in America, here the minority can dictate the lifestile of majority. So,yeah, America is difenetely not a democratic republic, iwd call it quasi-democratic republic, u pretent to be real but u are not. Interesting phenomenon of americans that u literally think that republic and democracy are antagonizing each other, when they can actually fit each other. Its blowing my mind.
In Sweden everyone can vote, you only need a id( like 95% of the pop has some typ of id here). We count ALL votes even if it takes weeks. We have high turnout of like 87%. I have 3-4 poling places like 2-5min from my home and never had to wait in a line to vote, you can also vote by mail. US election sounds more and more like elections in Russia or Belarus..
Lmao no.
lol in Russia the electoral procedure is even less complicated. At least we don't have to register for voting, we just bring passport and vote. The cheating in Russia is simply not letting in the opposition candidates.
@@Turtle42082
What state are you voting in?
I have to show a state photo ID in Texas to vote. They scan the ID. IIRC there's around 20 million people in Texas that must have a state photo ID to vote.
@@Turtle42082 I have to disagree. The video seemed very accurate to me. I live in Michigan and have to show ID every time. They also verify my signature and if it doesn't match perfectly they can throw out my vote later. Right now I live in a middle class white neighborhood, so it usually only takes me about an hour to vote. But for awhile I lived in Pontiac, a predominantly black, poor area. The lines were hours long, and they would close the poles before people could vote, even though they had been there for hours. I had to work hard to get my nephew and son registered, although its easier now. And I know that it is very true that many states bar people from voting if they have a felony conviction, no matter what it is for. Gerrymandering is also very real. The video didn't even mention that not all votes carry equal weight. And I think that fact alone is particularly significant.
In peru, the count of votes takes at least 2-3 days. Cause you have wait to get the votes from the outside and from the little town in the center of the country, which many times are far away from big cities
"Change the system by voting." sounds good - unless it's two party system in which both parties have created that system.
I like ...looove the positivity in thr end. Great video ❤❤
Me: thinking that we have a decent and easy system
Everyone in this video: "it took me about 2 minutes to go vote.", "what is voter registration?", "what the heck is wrong with yalls system?"
Yall telling me there is a easier way?
Mate your whole system sucks on every corner. Hard pill to swallow cause that’s not what is taught in US-schools.
@@DavontheViper exactly!! And even when we vote the electoral college is actually what decides it. God we need changes
@@Balletified 👏 THANK 👏 YOU 👏. This! This entire statement is just so great 💯.
I have been considering actually moving to Canada because of how awful our systems are and all the idiots who refuse to strive for literally anything better. People literally argued against a $15.00 minimum wage because of some bs they all made up in their heads "I don't want someone flipping burgers to make the same as me", or "prices for everyday things will go up if we get paid more" both arguments are so stupid I just want to cry. That raise in wage would have benefited my job that pays $11.50 and I wouldn't have to put in so much OT just to make sure we have money to pay our bills and have extra money and I could finally have money to put aside for college.
We have idiots in higher positions of power who refuse to do anything that could benefit people and even more idiots that think they are doing a good job because they say they are.
I want changes because I have family and loved ones here and I want America to actually be better. I'm so unsure if those changes can be made though and I don't want to raise a family in a country that just has it set up to where they will more than likely fail.
@@Balletified that's also a reason I don't wanna leave. I wanna help change the country but I also want to bring a family into this world eventually and I'm unsure I'd want them here.
That's my dilemma right now.
I'm hoping this upcoming election for senate will help making changes.
I also want to get rid of this stupid electoral college system and the other system that allows these senators to keep blocking progress, even if there are more votes for change.
Here in Spain, you receive a letter to check if your personal data are right. If they are (most times are), you wait for the voting day, you go to a public school, show your identity card, they check if you're in the list and then you vote. Maximum 5 minutes. Never heard of nothing similar to gerrymandering here. You are being deceived :/
'Oldest democracy' the megalomania of the U.S is unbelievable.
Is it the oldest surviving democracy?
@@jc.1191 San Marino.
In Chile we really went mad for your presidential elections
The 2 debates getting live coverage (And translation) in "CNN Chile" and those 4 days of live notes from Pennsylvania and Nevada for you to count those ballots.... It was really painful xd
Here in FInland we get "You have right to vote in this election" letter in mail to home. No need to register by self.
Finland is cool.
0:21 as a matter of fact, Iceland has been an uninterrupted democracy since the 9th century :)
Viking days? Yeah that may be true but it is ONLY the men that vote. Eric the Red gets the boot. But Greece is the first democracy. In the BCE era. Google it. Men still had the say, but it started there. Then Sparta (all 300 of them). The Roman Empire followed and I believe they also had a quasi democracy....the senators vote really cut deep -to choose their leader. "or not"
@@bunzeebear2973 if your going to use universal suffrage as the defining factor then New Zealand would be first, women had the vote here in 1893.
@@bunzeebear2973 and women didn't get to vote in America until 1920 and people of colour couldn't vote for decades after that. It's not a democracy if it's only for a select few. Which is what American Republicans want.
@@jillmortlock8439 That's the kicker, stop with the party(both have changed over the decades and flip ideology in the last 1960s) and look at the ideology and it has alway been conservatives in the US that have always wanted it to be a white male only country. Anyone else weren't to be citizens. 13th Amendment changed that. If the conservatives of the 1770s had their way, we would have never broken off from the Crown.
Native tribes couldn't vote in all 50 states until the 1960s.
but hasn't been a sovereign nation that whole time. Actually, only since 1944
In Argentina,once you voted once,you ate registered to vote always...The U.S is the first Democratic country I've ever seen that's make it harder to vote instead of easier. So much needs to change there.
In the UK, you are registered to vote at 18.
0:25 no it's not. The UK has continuously been a democracy for far longer.
Nailed it.
I try to imagine how it is in us history books : the colonies were not represented in the British parliament, so they said "no taxation without representation" and then founded first democracy :))))
In the UK a census is taken regularly and voter registration is a legal requirement. You then get a voting card automatically for elections which you optionally attend. But you register at a polling station and can only vote once based on the electoral register. Simple, secure, easier to police and control and built in controls preventing multi-voting and unregistered voting.
I was brought to tears at the end. Their system needs an overhaul.
LMFAOO
l o l
Murica.... The richest third world country in the world
European thinking no universal healthcare = 3rd worlf
@@jwb2734 if you think american lacks only a decent health care system, clearly you have never been to europe.
or 3rd world country in denial.
lmao moron.
@@jwb2734 though your Healthcare system (or lack there of) is part of my reasoning, it is definitely not the only factor. Just to name a few... The infrastructure is in a constant state of disrepair, your public sector is so corrupt it would envy the folks from Zimbabwe, your public transport is practically non existant. Your protection of the weaker sections of society is a joke. Your law enforcement is absurdly racist and very dependent on race and class. Your education system is broken beyond repair. You house the most people in the world in your prison system.
I could still go on but I think you catch my drift...
But you just stick your head in the sand and keep telling yourself : America is the greatest nation on the face of the earth.
This is unbelievable. How is this even happening in one of the big voices of democratic countries in the world?
If these events occurred in Africa it would be called a kangaroo election and totally invalid with demands that the UN step in to monitor the election process. But in the USA every form of election manipulation and fraud takes place as "normal" voting procedure.
Here in the UK I walked to my polling office at 7:00am I was one of the first to vote there with no queues or waiting. I think the polls remain open until 10:00pm. So voting - even if you do work - is easy.
The way I understand it, the US mentality is highly competitive. Everybody is supposed to "make it", whatever that means for them. It's about winning. Not about fairness or justice or equality or putting the right person in the right place. A person is in a certain place because he "made it". Not because he's best qualified for it.
The US is like Trump, it's all about dominance. Gotta ask why the US along with Russia and China doesn't recognize the ICC?
Thats why they don't allow a tie game in sports. They even invented cooking shows that are competitions so you have a winner and a loser.
And that is why they’re more than 7 billion gap in total nominal gdp between Europe and USA. One country makes electric cars and sends tech to Mars while other accepts refugees for welfare
As a German I'm honestly asking myself: Why is it, that many people think of sausages, when they hear "Germany", but we don't have "Democracy Sausage"? Elections are this year. Until then the "Democracy Currywurst" should be a thing xD
I would prefer a döner!😉😊
In the village I grew up in the Freiwillige Feuerwehr sells Bratwurst every election. And there's also cake :D
Now I live in a city and vote in the school and get nothing :(
Gernan?
In Australia if you want to get anything done you have to put on a bbq and give out sausages, from elections to just mates helping you move a fridge. The sausage is key.
What a shame we don't have"Democratic pizza" here in Italy 😆😆. But we sing "Bella Ciao" everytime we organize a manifestation. Since we believe it is a song sung by the partisans (nobody is 100% sure about it, but this is the general belief) when they fought against the nazists, it means "fighting for freedom" for us.
OK looking at it from a European perspective I’d say America needs to either press reset on their elections or have their elections process looked at by an expert here in Europe before we vote again
Yes! The latter, definitely!
3:02: Considering that many people in the U.S. don't even take their day off when they are sick it is even less likely that they take some time off for voting (which can be a painfully long-winded process as you could see during the last election)
NYT: america is the worlds oldest democracy
ancient greece: *hold my zeus*
Zeus will zap me so you take him.
Ancient Greece was not a nation, and also no longer exists.
@@jacobmuraco4276 The first part is still true however, the US is not the oldest democracy in the world.
"The United States is the world's oldest democracy."
I think that San Marino would like to have a word with you.
At the end when they say that you should fight to be able to vote. And then use your vote to make a change. That sounds great...
However - what they fail to mention are the choices that people have. If you want to cast a vote for change, you're going to be disappointed by the options. Especially in a two-party system where neither intends to commit to make radical changes.
3:16 not the UK... we usually hold it on a Thursday however you can vote from 6 in the morning until 10 at night whereas I hear in America you can sometimes only vote in the daytime which is stupid