American Exceptionalism’s “Democracy”

vs.

Habermas’s “Deliberative Democracy”

Establishing gerrymandered districts that clearly reflect partisan bias in apportioning the electorate into voting districts

OR

Having a neutral commission establish “fairly apportioned voting districts”

Paying subsidies to rich corporations (such as oil companies)

OR

Using these subsidies for other entities that genuinely need them

Turning a blind eye to voter suppression efforts

OR

Enacting laws to guarantee and extend the franchise

Accepting institutionalized racism’s obvious codes

OR

Eliminating institutionalized racism’s obvious codes

Accepting limitations on women’s pay

OR

Genuinely implementing equal pay for equal work

Having the gun lobby control gun legislation and intimidate lawmakers

OR

Allowing the government to pass common sense gun laws (assault rifle bans, military-sized clips, etc.)

Having a society that is uniformly authorized to exercise the concealed carrying of firearms

OR

Questioning whether the “concealed carrying” of firearms is a genuine social value or the value of a small segment of society with narrow and vested interests

Accepting racist prison incarceration rates

OR

Eliminating the basis for prison incarceration rates that are racist

Accepting candidates who engage in racist slurs or who propose policies against Hispanics, Muslims, and others

OR

Rejecting out of hand candidates who make slurs or who propose policies against Hispanics, Muslims, and other minorities

Rounding up and deporting 11 million “illegal immigrants”

OR

Allowing 11 million illegal immigrants legal status

Accepting the results of junk-science and/or science tied to corporate interests on environmental issues

OR

Rejecting the claims of those who accept junk science and/or science tied to corporate interest on environmental issues

Accepting the irrational stripping of earth’s (and the ocean’s) environmental resources

OR

Protecting the earth’s (and the ocean’s) environmental resources

Allowing lobbyists to write legislation

OR

Ensuring lobbyists don’t have final say in writing legislation

Having society’s norms set by corporate interests

OR

Having society’s norms set by society’s participants (as opposed to those representing corporate interests)

Accepting social violence against members of the LGBT community

OR

Rejecting social violence against members of the LGBT community

Having unlimited amounts of “dark money” influencing our campaign financing

OR

Taking excess money out of campaign financing

Accepting American “democracy” as it is now practiced, and allowing overweening corporate influence

OR

Adopting a “deliberative democracy” with communicative action theory and discourse ethics while systematically limiting corporate influence

Accepting the colonization of the lifeworld by system forces

OR

Rejecting the colonization of lifeworld by system forces