Common Misconceptions

[Jay-qu]

Yeah, you see ad's for low cholesterol products and people saying its better to have less in your diet as it causes heart disease.. etc - Myths

[Nitack]

I got two for you.

1. The USA is a democracy. It is a republic

2. The USA is a capitalist country. It is a hybrid moving more towards socialism.

[Nitack]

Gots me another one.

That in the US Constitution there is a guaranteed right to the "Pursuit of Happiness". The pursuit of happiness was mentioned in the Declaration of Independence, but no where is it found in the documents guaranteeing the rights of citizens.

[Qfwfq]

Another misconception about cholesterol: having a high level of it isn't directly consequent to ingesting too much of it in food.

It really depends on correct function of metabolism, which should either metabolize or synthesize it and hypercholestrolemia can be caused by a highly caloric diet, even if it's low in cholesterol. A diet rich in it doesn't cause an excessive level, as long as it gets properly metabolized. BTW the "good" kind is HDL (high density lipoprotein) and the "bad" kind is the low density LDL.

Originally Posted by Nitack

1. The USA is a democracy. It is a republic

2. The USA is a capitalist country. It is a hybrid moving more towards socialism.

I don't see where misconceptions lie, in there.

[Nitack]

Originally Posted by Qfwfq

I don't see where misconceptions lie, in there.

If you pulled aside almost any person on the street and asked them if the US form of government was a democracy they would say that it is, which is not true. the US is a republic.

The same is also true in which the vast majority would say that the US is a capitalist country, which it is not. The US has a hybrid capitalist/socialist economy.

[Thunderbird]

lighting never strikes the same place twice.

In reality land forms and underlying mineral deposits can be a determining factor to channel electric charges of lighting over the same area time and time again. My father’s 40 acre land plot is a prime example. The land is a hill containing a mineralized pipe and conducts lightning shockingly well.

[Thunderbird]

An Important Distinction: Democracy versus Republic

An Important Distinction: Democracy versus Republic

[Janus]

That the term "factoid" means a trivial but interesting fact, when it actual means something presented as a fact but isn't a fact.

[Thunderbird]

Obama is a radical liberal. Actually he is closer to being a centrist than a radical liberal.
The distinction really lies in the times “liberal” does not necessarily mean tax and spend the “liberal”
emerges naturally in times of transitional changes into a new paradigm. Ideally the conservative factions acts as anchor to what is perceived as a traditional paradigms that historically and ironically were originally put forth by the “liberals” in times past. The original American liberals where the founding fathers that broke with England to form a new government.

Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language defines:

liberal-

1) originally, suitable for a freeman; not restricted: now only in liberal arts, education, etc..

2) Giving freely; generous.

3) ample; abundant: as, a liberal reward.

4) not restricted to the original meaning: as, liberal interpretation of the law.

5) broad-minded.

6) (L) favoring reform or progress, as in religion, education, etc.; specif. favoring political reforms; not conservative: as the Liberal Party of England.

conservative-

1) conserving or tending to conserve; preservative.

2) tending to preserve established institutions and methods and to resist or oppose any changes in these.

3) (C) designating or of the major right-wing political party of Great Britain or Canada.

4) moderate, prudent; safe.

[Qfwfq]

It is a misconception that a republic is not a democracy.

Originally Posted by Nitack

If you pulled aside almost any person on the street and asked them if the US form of government was a democracy they would say that it is, which is not true. the US is a republic.

On which street?

I know the misconception is radicated in the US; the link TB provided only shows why the different perspective developed there. It does not prove the case as being so throughout the world (or even only just in the English Language of other countries) and it is even slightly self-contradictory in discussing some examples. It's also a misconception that the meanings have to do with guarantees such as principle of precedent, separation of powers, constitution etc.

In most western languages, correspondents of both terms are present despite them being derived from the Greek and the Latin words for essentially the same thing (not a monarchy or tyranny). The Latin one (respublica, a contraction of rex publica populi romani and meaning affair of the people) came to have a more specific meaning, although not usually the one claimed in TB's link, than δημοκρατία coined from δήμος and κράτος. This difference is largely due to the fact the the small and independent Greek πολις (in each of which the ruling class wasn't too large) it was feasible to decide everything in assemblies whereas the larger and expanding Respublica Romana called for a representative democracy of increasing complexity with substantially more guarantees, which culminated with re-institution of the senate.

This makes the difference in usage in most countries understandable but doesn't imply a replublic not being a democracy, or any of what is in TB's link. It is noteworthy that many countries are considered modern democracies because they have elective parliaments and ample guarantees but are not called republics because the head of state is not an elective office. The word republic is typically understood as not a monarchy, while democracy means either this or at least not an absolute one. It is also noteworthy that modern Greek never adopted a derivation of the Latin term, it uses δημοκρατία in both ways.