TEN RULES OF DEMOCRATIC DISCOURSE

  Once again, a political debate has gone astray, and all 10 rules of democratic discourse were broken by both parties. If canidates would just follow these simple rules, they would most certainly recieve a more favorable response from American voters. Last night’s presidential debate was a complete waste of rhetoric on both sides. We learned nothing about everything. (That’s a whole lot of nothing.) If the canidates refuse to leave off message then debates are pointless, illogical, reality TV infomercials.

Maybe, we should give them different tests. Presidential canidates might be put through an Executive  Decathalon. This way they would have 10 events, with stricter  rules they cannot break. They could be judged on…..

1. Dance 2. Musical Talent. 3. Arm Wrestling. 4. Chess 5. Swimsuit 6. Baking 7. Gardening 8. Sharpshooting

9. 1000 meter relay. (with prospective cabinate members.) 10. Breath-holding.

 

Maybe we should ask them different questions. Instead of, "Why is your side better then his side?" We might ask,

1. Can you change the oil in your own car?

2. If you have a family of four, and only 20$ left in your pocket, what will you make for supper?

3. If you could be a character on Family Guy, who would you be?

4. If you have pocket aces, and the flop comes down queen -six- jack, should you go All In?

 

We might have to have revise these, but you get my point.

 

10 rules of democratic discourse

 

1. Nothing and no one is immune from criticism.

 

1. Everyone involved in a controversy has an intellectual responsibility to inform himself of the available facts.

 

1. Criticism should be directed first to policies, and against persons only when they are responsible for policies, and against their motives or purposes only when there is some independent evidence of their character.

 

1. [Just] Because certain words are legally permissible, they are not therefore morally permissible.

 

1. Before impugning an opponent’s motives, even when they legitimately may be impugned, answer his arguments.

 

1. Do not treat an opponent of a policy as if he were therefore a personal enemy of the country or a concealed enemy of democracy.

 

1. Since a good cause may be defended by bad arguments, after answering the bad arguments for another’s position present positive evidence for your own.

 

1. Do not hesitate to admit lack of knowledge or to suspend judgment if evidence is not decisive either way.

 

1. Only in pure logic and mathematics, not in human affairs, can one demonstrate that something is strictly impossible. Because something is logically possible, it is not therefore probable. “It is not impossible” is a preface to an irrelevant statement about human affairs. The question is always one of the balances of probabilities. And the evidence for probabilities must include more than abstract possibilities.

 

       10. The cardinal sin, when we are looking for truth of fact or wisdom of policy, is refusal to discuss, or action, which blocks discussion.