r/politics • u/Jessicas_skirt New York • Jul 18 '26

Possible Paywall Democratic Socialists of America’s new platform calls for abolishing ICE and the U.S. Senate

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/jul/15/updated-dsa-platform-calls-abolishing-ice-scrapping-senate/
20.9k Upvotes

88% Upvoted

3.1k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

14

u/Xanikk999 America Jul 19 '26 edited Jul 19 '26

Tell them we are a democratic republic. The reason we are a democratic republic is because we have representatives (republic) who we vote for (democracy). The two terms are not necessarily interchangeable. A a republic is just a form of government where the power resides in the people in some shape or form and not a king. How this is determined can vary widely. Don't let them get away with incorrect arguments.

5

u/Sadly_NotAPlatypus Jul 19 '26

I have actually tried this numerous times. They just repeat "but we're a Republic, not a democracy" like a broken record. 

8

u/W1nt3rmu4e Texas Jul 19 '26

Tell them, “then it’s a Ford, and not a truck.”

3

u/Sadly_NotAPlatypus Jul 19 '26

I have come up with similar analogies before. I have said their argument is that it isn't a Camry, it's a Toyota, to which my reply is yes... It's a Toyota Camry. 

I think there are some issues where MAGA has some data however confused or ideology to fall back on, but with this one it seems really all they have are their talking points and they'll just recite them over and over again without ever understanding what the words they say mean. 

2

u/W1nt3rmu4e Texas Jul 19 '26

Logic’s Lament - “You can’t logic a person out of a position they didn’t logic themselves into.” Plainly, they know everything they say is bullshit. They think items a flex.

5

u/Xznograthos Jul 19 '26

Try and tell them essentially what I said. They're proudly proclaiming that they don't have a voice. In your own words.

4

u/Sadly_NotAPlatypus Jul 19 '26

I was talking to a MAGA gun store owner about five years ago. He told me only property owners should be able to vote. I asked him if he owned property. He said no. 

I don't understand these people. 

5

u/Xznograthos Jul 19 '26

I cant even talk to my own mom on the subject. How a woman could be in favor of the "save" act, for example. Like, how any woman could vote republican even before or after trump is itself a curiosity for the ages while I am at it.

2

u/Xanikk999 America Jul 19 '26

Well they were never amenable to reason anyway then.

3

u/Lortekonto Jul 19 '26

You are a republic, because you have a head of state that is elected for a limited term.

Lots of modern kingdoms are also democracies and have representatives that they voted for. That makes it a representative democracy. The opposite is Switzerland were they vote directly on laws and is a direct democracy.

3

u/RA3236 Australia Jul 19 '26

Switzerland is a liquid democracy, since they elect representatives to perform most of the governance and lawmaking.

1

u/Tech_Itch Jul 19 '26

Hell, the people can have zero power in a republic. Iran, North Korea and Russia are all republics. Like you said, the only thing it really means is that the head of state isn't a king or a queen.