# Is the U.S. a dictatorship? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 2, 2005, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-u-s-a-dictatorship/315230 "2005-08-02T00:14:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2005, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-u-s-a-dictatorship/315230/121 "2005-08-07T05:49:54Z")
You left out something, magellan01 (my addition is bolded). > [@magellan01](#): > > •Use language that is familiar to your audience **without making up a definition known only to you**. This is particularly important when you’re trying to get people to look at things in a new way **without bothering to tell them what that new way is**. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2005, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-u-s-a-dictatorship/315230/122 "2005-08-07T14:03:13Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > You left out something, magellan01 (my addition is bolded). Good addition. I think the first one is particularly appropriate. The second, probably just a result of all the others. ---
**Author:** ![rwjefferson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a6a055/32.png) [@rwjefferson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rwjefferson)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2005, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-u-s-a-dictatorship/315230/123 "2005-08-07T16:18:32Z")
Please allow my humble apology to those that I have offended. My passion for liberty runs much too deep and strong for my own good. I do not willingly accept tyranny in any form; however slight; even at cost. **Is the U.S. a dictatorship?** (narrow definition) **No**. Clearly it is not and never has been. **Was the U.S. a dictatorship of law?** (my definition) On behalf of Slaves and Native Americans, I answer yes. **Is the U.S. (still) a dictatorship of law?** Your answer will depend on the definitions you choose. I do not see that a law that prohibits (as opposed to regulates) peaceful quest can be considered either liberty or justice. I only see those laws creating strife and tyranny and dictatorship. The question remains, how much tyranny are _We_ willing to accept? Peace Only through Liberty rwjefferson ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2005, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-u-s-a-dictatorship/315230/124 "2005-08-07T16:24:42Z")
> [@rwjefferson](#): > > My passion for liberty runs much too deep and strong for my own good. Well, that’s a problem if you want to present your argument to people accustomed to _reasoned_ debate. Rhetoric and bombast and generalities might work to get a sympathetic crowd cheering for you, but they won’t work on the people on this message board. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2005, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-u-s-a-dictatorship/315230/125 "2005-08-08T01:30:37Z")
> [@rwjefferson](#): > > The question remains, how much tyranny are _We_ willing to accept? I say that we should accept no more than a 2.1 magnitude of tyranny, and not a ten-thousandth of a point more. How can anyone disagree with that? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2005, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-u-s-a-dictatorship/315230/126 "2005-08-08T02:37:09Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > I say that we should accept no more than a 2.1 magnitude of tyranny, and not a ten-thousandth of a point more. How can anyone disagree with that? You’ve overlooked the modifiers of the autocracy matrix. _Overlooked!!_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-u-s-a-dictatorship/315230.md?page=6)