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1500 questions
103
votes
18 answers
How can I respond to Whataboutism?
While this uses examples that could be seen as supporting one side or the other, it is intended as a politically neutral question, to the extent that that is possible
This has come up more and more in political discussions I've been having recently,…
penalosa
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100
votes
17 answers
Why allow convicted criminals to vote?
According to a 1998 HRW report,
The United States may have the world’s most restrictive criminal disenfranchisement laws. We know of no other democracy besides the United States in which convicted offenders who have served their sentences are…
the gods from engineering
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99
votes
20 answers
What is the purpose of democracy?
In many modern political debates democracy is often considered an unalloyed virtue: things are good because they are democratic. Things the people have voted for are good because they represent the "will of the people" and that has to be good.…
matt_black
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97
votes
3 answers
What can an independent election observer in Russia do if they notice irregularities?
In the recent Russian presidential elections on March 18, 2018, foreign reporters and election observers noticed irregularities, incidents of election fraud and general violations in the voting process on several occasions (e.g. washingtonpost.com,…
DK2AX
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96
votes
12 answers
Why does the US keep announcing what they think Russia is going to do in Ukraine?
There must be some motive here that I can't understand. For one I can easily think of reasons why the US wouldn't want to make public the things that they know, if not for any other reason than to risk revealing how they know what they know. Other…
MetaGuru
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94
votes
18 answers
Do other countries guarantee freedoms that the United States does not have?
Lifelong citizens of the United States report that they are accustomed to hearing that the US is the "Land of the Free" and most patriotic celebrations seem to emphasize freedom as one of the unique qualities of life there.
Another question already…
user12886
94
votes
12 answers
Why is there no effective anti-gun lobby in the United States?
The National Rifle Association appears to be a very powerful lobby in the United States which seems to be very successful at preventing anti-gun legislation. Nevertheless, it would appear to be quite feasible for there to be a competing lobby…
Witness Protection ID 44583292
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92
votes
5 answers
Is President Trump right that there was violence on "both sides" in Charlottesville?
Today, President Trump claimed that there was violence on "both sides," and that alt-left and alt-right both shared blame in the incidents at Charlottesville, Virginia. Is this factually accurate? I'm not aware of any alt-left protestors being…
tpm900
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89
votes
9 answers
Why are the Taliban winning against the Afghan army?
According to the Wikipedia page on the current Taliban offensive, the combined Afghan army outnumbers the Taliban by roughly 3:1. The Taliban have less or worse equipment and vehicles, and the Afghan army had training by NATO forces. Based on this…
nn3112337
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89
votes
14 answers
Why do some people take issue with kneeling during the anthem in US?
These days the heated disagreement between President Trump and NFL players is all over the online media. What's wrong with Kneeling and why does he want them not to kneel and why do they still do it?
From where I belong we don't kneel to the anthem…
Hanky Panky
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89
votes
6 answers
Why was Trump winning the 2016 election, when I know so few people who admit to voting for him?
I am a well educated Republican, of generally conservative views. Pretty much every day I see and hear people talk about how poor of a candidate Donald Trump is. But he's winning primary after primary, and is likely to win tomorrow in my home state.…
PearsonArtPhoto
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88
votes
9 answers
Why is Elizabeth Warren's Native American ancestry a political issue?
In the past (perhaps during her Senate campaign), Senator Elizabeth Warren has mentioned that she has some Native American blood in her geneology. For some reason, Donald Trump has accused her of lying about this, and he's also made fun of her by…
Barmar
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88
votes
4 answers
Could Ecuador get Julian Assange out of the UK by giving him some mail to deliver?
As mentioned in an answer to this question, the UK refused to declare Julian Assange an Ecuadorean diplomat, presumably as it would allow him to leave the Ecuadorean embassy and the UK without being subject to arrest (thanks to the provisions of the…
Sneftel
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88
votes
10 answers
Why does ISIS continue to do things to make their "enemy" even more determined to go after them?
Why do groups such as ISIS and Al Qaeda continue use terrorism attacks, which only do temporary physical damage. It seems to have the primary effect of aggravating huge military entities such as N.A.T.O or the U.S.
The swift downfall of Al Qaeda's…
preston
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87
votes
27 answers
What is the capitalist answer to rail passenger transportation being non financially profitable?
In developed countries, rail transport is usually provided at financial loss, and needs to be subsidised by governments. In countries who have refused to do so (mostly on the American continent), passenger rail transport has become anecdotal and…
Bregalad
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