Actually, we don't have a Democracy and never have. In a (True)Democracy, every voter votes on everything. We have a Republic*/Representative Democracy in which all the voters elect representatives to a legislature to vote on things in their name.

And yes, I taught Government and the Constitution in addition to US & World History and Geography at grade levels from 7 to 12 in my 34 years teaching in Los Angeles Unified School District.

*Just after the Constitutional Convention at the start of the Ratification process "-Benjamin Franklin's response to Elizabeth Willing Powel's question: "Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?" = “A republic, if you can keep it.”

https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/constitutionalconvention-september17.htm#:~:text=%2D%2DBenjamin%20Franklin's%20response%20to,a%20republic%20or%20a%20monarchy%3F%22

People, you are arguing over raw numbers in Australia vs the US. You need to factor in the fact that the US pop is 333.3 million and Australia is 26.01 million = US pop is 12.81x the pop of Australia.
So if you want to compare rates you either multiply Australia's numbers by 12.81 or divide the US's numbers by 12.81.

You either had a poor history teacher or slept through a large part of the class. The way the US government has functioned, what things it has done or not done etc. have changed multiple times and often in radical ways over the years. And especially since Wilson and then FDR it has tended to do more and more things it left to the states, or no one did at all in the past.
The size of the government in the last 150 years has gone from being supported almost entirely by tariffs (except during wars) to the huge IRS/Tax programs of the present day.

More likely though you just believe what you want to believe. There are others just like you both pro and anti Trump, pro or anti Biden and just plain pro or anti conservative/liberal on UHH and other sites. Reality means nothing to them unless it happens to fit what they believe or want to be true.

Note: I taught History, Government, the Constitution and Geography for 34 years in Los Angeles High Schools and Jr High Schools.

I use the 18-150 on both my RP and R7 for "just in case" and it is a very handy little lenses that takes excellent images.. Either body and this lenses makes alight compact rig. For a bit more reach I also have the RF24-240. For my compact birding rig I put the RF100-400.

Then for deliberate set piece birding I have a choice of RF 100-500L or Tamron 150-600 EF with adapter. Those go on a tripod or monopod. I also have a 1.4x extender for both RF and EF lenses and a 2x for the EF. I also will trade lenses if I don't like or don't find enough uses for them.

Yeah, the wife and I in our retirement have a good income between SS, 401k for her(surgical RN) and 3 pensions plus SS for me(VA disability, Retail Clerks, teachers pension). Our Special Needs Son also has a good disability income that helps pay for his share of the house, food & utilities. The house is in a trust that goes to take care of him after we die and his brother and sister are the Trustees.

Glad you got it working.

But, it is "Freaky Friday"!
So
I think you need to upgrade to the "Uralvagonzavod T90" or just add one to your kit. Then you will have 3 T90s but this one you will never have trouble changing lanes and you park anywhere you want, even if another car is already there.

Image from Goggle, some miltary publication

Go hang around a college campus or a research facility. A large % use every title they have a credential for, sort of sets up the pecking order.

One campus I worked on we had two PHDs on the faculty, one did not use the title (but in his part-time work at JPL he did) and the other one used Doctor. That guy taught 3 science electives including Basic Psychology so we all figured calling him Doctor was the thing to do. Besides, it irritated some of the administrators to have to address a teacher as "Doctor". Since those administrators were the irritating ones, most of the faculty saw that as a plus.

Our Daughter is a Pediatric Resident at Harbor UCLA Medical Center and I am proud Dad to call her Doctor when called for. The rest of the time she is Sweetheart or Kitten, just like when she was little.

Thanks, I will make an effort. All of my health problems seem to be under control with the meds.

The allergies sometimes kick off asthma attacks, like after our infrequent rains when everything is growing and pollinating.

The Sciatica flairs up from time to time, but I have meds to help the nerves heal and regenerate, so the attacks are getting milder. I also have a bottle of Tramadol for just in case but haven't used one in a while, Tylenol seems to do the trick for a mild attack.

I use handrails on stairs and will not use a ladder at all, just in case the left leg decides to take a break from working.

For photo shoots in the parks I now have a street legal mobility scooter (it looks like a moped) that the factory reset for me to do 30mph the new CA speed limit for seniors and disabled using a street legal scooter - recreational scooters are limited to 15mph. There are lots of side streets with 25-35 speed limits and the higher speed main roads all have bike lanes in our area so I can get places out to about 7-8 miles, run around a while and back home. That higher speed uses up the batteries fast, there is a authorized repairman near me-maybe he can install a second set of batteries with a switch in the locked cargo box that I seldom use=my cameras are in a backpack/camera bag.
At 15 or less with someone under 200lbs on flat roads, the range is supposed to get up to 50 miles total. I weight 280 and running at 30mph the range is down to 20-25 miles because our area has hills.

My wife says I should get a new rear lift for my SUV that can take my 5' long scooter and get rid of the one for her electric wheelchair which is too small for the scooter. A bigger one can still carry her wheelchair, or the wheelchair can come apart and go in the back of my SUV and my scooter on the carrier. Then we can scoot around parks together. She sometimes has mobility problems from almost 30 years as a Surgical RN and on her feet all day in the OR. It messed up her ankles, so she has braces for when she needs them, but fortunately it only flairs up on rare occasions.

Hello 911, please send my Uncle Eagle quick, I need a cat beat up and a human scared away.

Well, yesterday I got excused from jury duty again. Without going in: 78, multiple health problems and meds, cognitively impaired stepson who needs 24/7 supervision and my wife has health problems also so I never know when I have to provide that care and supervision by myself.

I guess they didn't want me bringing in my small drug store and suddenly having to be dismissed to get home to take care of Jon and Debra. Of course, the possibility of having to suddenly ship me off to the Kaiser hospital ER was in there also.

Actually, the title Doctor is correct, just not a Medical Doctor. That is what the "D" in PHD stands for.

Bachelor's Degree, Master's Degree, Doctoral Degree is the progression and in some fields there is a Post Doctoral Degree.

So Jill Biden is a Doctor of Education whereas my daughter is a Doctor of Medicine, usually written as MD (Medical Doctor).

Quick interview, Birdie's opinion of cats is in the language you can't use in public range now. The only printable part was "I hope a BIG dog picks you up in his mouth and carries you around then spits you out and see how much you like it!"

For most people, only training can get them to go after someone with a knife. For the untrained, except some very aggressive types the only thought is to get away.

Forgot, it wasn't shot down either, it had engine failure and went into the ocean nose first, like in a dive. The one guy who survived and was picked up said that none of the others got out of the plane. So there was no swimming to shore, just a ride in an airplane that suddenly self identified as a submarine.

Then there is President Obama "Never underestimate Joe's ability to F*** things up."

Having sat through a jury selection I can understand falling asleep, only a boring professor in a lecture hall equals the boredom. I didn't get picked-NRA Life Membership and past work in armed security freaked out the defense attorney. I thought he was going to sprain something dismissing me so fast.