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1500 questions
40
votes
15 answers
Has any person or company ever become a sovereign state?
How did they do it?
And are there any people or companies today who could become a sovereign state if they wanted to?
Could Jeff Bezos start his own country and become a sovereign state? How would he do it, and would anyone try to stop him? Who…
user21920
40
votes
8 answers
Can Northern Ireland's border issue be solved by repartition?
In following the ongoing Brexit drama, it seems everything is resolved except the question of the Northern Irish border, which is very difficult indeed to solve.
Idea: draw a new border that splits Northern Ireland into two pieces of roughly 60:40…
Allure
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votes
4 answers
How did the European Union reach the figure of 3% as a maximum allowed deficit?
According to Wikipedia's article about Stability and Growth Pact:
The fiscal discipline is ensured by the SGP by requiring each Member
State, to implement a fiscal policy aiming for the country to stay
within the limits on government deficit…
Alexei
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40
votes
7 answers
Is there precedent or are there procedures for a US president refusing to concede to an electoral defeat?
I am wondering what would happen if an incumbent US President were to lose a presidential election, but refuse to accept the result and to concede defeat (even after any legitimate challenges and appeals have failed)? Thus, the incumbent President…
Time4Tea
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40
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13 answers
If conservatism believes in individualism, then why do conservatives often support regulation of personal decisions?
It is my understanding that people on the right side of the political spectrum generally believe in individualism in the sense that they support smaller government and the right of individuals to make decisions for themselves.
Yet many conservatives…
Chanseok Oh
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40
votes
5 answers
Why does PRC devalue its currency on purpose, but Turkey is worried about the devaluation of its currency?
PRC regularly devalues its currency to promote export. On the other hand, Turkey is worried about the plummet of its currency.
Why two outcomes in the same type of case?
user21304
40
votes
8 answers
Why would Putin or Russia benefit from a weak EU or weak EU countries?
Various (western) commentators and politicians state that "the only one happy with/benefiting from [insert bad scenario here] is Putin/Russia" (I'm not sure which one(s) of the two they mean). Examples of "bad scenario here" may be a no-deal…
gerrit
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40
votes
5 answers
Why is the German GEZ a fee and not a tax?
In Germany, every household has to pay "Rundfunkbeitrag" (often called GEZ). It is 17,50 Euro per month, which is used to finance public broadcasting.
Normally, I would expect public institutions to be financed by taxes (those that have more have to…
tim
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9 answers
Under Chicago School economics, will monopolies naturally go away?
I have two questions regarding monopolies in a capitalistic society:
According to Milton Friedman and Thomas Sowell, among other Chicago School economists, under purely market forces monopolies will naturally not be sustainable for long. When I'm…
Alexis Purslane
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40
votes
5 answers
Why might the Russians want Trump to win?
The American CIA reportedly believes that the Russians, in the form of the Russian government and possibly private actors, went to signficant length (psych / cyber ops) to help Trump win.
Having said that, could you provide a clear explanation of…
Hack-R
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40
votes
2 answers
Can the current President of the United States block the transfer of their office to the next elected president?
As indicated by commentary in the news, a considerable amount of people seem concerned about who wins the U.S. Presidential election. For this reason we have for example articles like this Op-Ed in LA Times (by James Kirchick, a fellow with the…
user100487
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39
votes
7 answers
What are the key factors for the rise of nationalism in Europe?
In the past decade there has been a constant rise of nationalism in European politics, with nationalist parties gaining popularity in almost every member of the European Union. The canonical example is Jean-Marie Le Pen's Front National in France,…
yannis
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39
votes
6 answers
Why doesn't Russia join the European Union?
Why doesn't Russia join the EU?
If they become one of them, then they would not be enemies anymore, right?
They have already joined the G-20. Then, they could also join EU, right?
user4514
39
votes
18 answers
How do Western countries get people who vote against the authorities?
I was born in the USSR, Russia, so this is the question that always puzzled me: how it happens that in some countries there are people who vote against the authorities, for instance, the president?
If the person in question, president, is the boss,…
Anixx
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39
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7 answers
What does “woke indoctrination” mean?
In the following CNBC article the author uses the term “woke” which Merriam Webster defines as a US slang adjective meaning “to be socially and politically aware”.
U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy pledges to tackle immigration, ‘woke’ education…
Gio
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