Credit: Louisa Barnes/The Daily Beast
The US government shutdown was, of course, massive international news — it’s essentially the world’s most powerful country and its largest economy going haywire. How does this chaos look through international eyes?
To find out, I spent the morning reading press coverage from a number of countries — from neighbors like Canada and Mexico to European allies to state-run media in Russia and China. What I found was a remarkable convergence on a single theme: The shutdown happened because there is something deeply wrong with the American political system.
“Canadians like to think their system of governance is better than the American one. If they want more evidence, they need only look at what’s happening now — a government shutdown in Washington — and be thankful their system doesn’t allow the same shenanigans,” writes Lawrence Martin, a columnist for Canada’s right-leaning Globe and Mail newspaper.
Reporters in democratic nations like Britain and France are stunned; authoritarian propagandists are downright giddy that America’s political system could collapse into chaos […]
The delegate system which we have in place insures that we will never have a “true Democracy” where every vote counts. That is the first thing that should go. If we had a true democracy, we would not have Trump as president. We also need real discussions with our representatives so we can voice our opinions to them. We do not have that now. I have written to representatives and senators many times, but I do not think most of them read their mail at all, and if they do, they ignore anything they do not agree with; they do not have open minds. Like the last article said: we live in a caste system in which only those with money have the power to influence politicians. We could use a more socialistic democracy at least like the one Bernie Sanders proposes or a better one, which fosters well-being, like our host Stephan always speaks about.