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The US is not a functioning democracy according to European standards. There are several reasons, I’ll just list some:Every citizen should not only be allowed to vote, but should also have the opportunity to vote. Voting should not require registration, and should not for political reasons be made difficult for certain groups. It should be the government’s primary duty to make it possible - and easy - to vote. Making voting require registration and making it difficult to register is an effective way of manipulating the democratic process.The US has no mechanism to avoid flagrant corruption. Leading politicians are openly for sale, and voting as instructed by their sponsors. Big donors are the ones creating US policies today, not politicians lead by a moral obligation to do what is best for their voters.Populism is not democracy. Populism, as in the US today, does not accept dialogue or criticism. A populist government, as in the US today, divides the people into “us” and “them”. Democracy is all about “we”. Working together, and making compromises for the good of everybody.The American system, where not only politicians are exchanged after elections, but also civil servants by the thousands, makes the US a country with as little continuity in governing as any dictatorship. This is also an example of non-existing democracy. In a democracy you make laws aiming to improve life for the people, and you can rely on those laws to be more or less permanent. In the US, a new president with a majority behind him can concentrate mainly on undoing the previous president’s achievements.The US administration is doing its best to reduce the autonomy of the courts. An independent court system is one of the cornerstones of democracy.The US administration is doing its best to reduce the autonomy of the press. An independent, critical press is another cornerstone of democracy.In a western democracy religious views should not be significant when making political decisions. The US was founded partly as a reaction against religious repressions. Now politicians are afraid to express their honest opinions about religion, since being suspected of not being a true Christian would end their careers.Calling the US a democracy is, of course, part of the smoke screen used by the US leaders to make people think the government is working with their best interest in mind.

You don't have to have lots of money to establish a start-up or business. Steve jobs was pretty much penniless during his college years, and look at the legacy he left. If you are 18, you still have time to go ahead and take economic classes in order to learn the art of entrepreneurship. After a few classes, you should know all of the terms and different types of businesses and how you can manage them, *joint venture, LLC, etc.* However, being a successful Entrepreneur isn't only knowing the terms, as owning/managing a business requires passion and perseverance. What separates the uber-rich and wealthy from the basic grocery-store owner *I'm not dissing grocery-store owners, just an example :P* is CREATIVITY. Coming up with new ideas and products and new ways to handle problems are what makes millionaires and billionaires. This trait is especially good to have in the tech industry, as Innovation and completely new and hype products are what drives technology. Another issue green-horn entrepreneurs face is money, though. However, like I said, you don't have to be rich or wealthy to create a business. If you are not wealthy and you cannot give yourself the money to form a start-up, look for loans or opportunities to have people invest into your growing ideas in order to make it a reality. Today, a good site is Kickstarter and or Indie-gogo, where users can create presentations of their idea/products, and set a goal for an amount of money raised by people who find that idea/product interesting, and if the goal is reached, donors/sponsors earn a reward form the company depending on how much they gave. Its a really neat site, and could be helpful to you if you decide to enter the world of Economics. Remember: Charisma, Perseverance, and Creativity. (CPC)

Some of these answers are whack! “You don’t have to.” Uh. Try again…Here are 7 ways to start branding better, as a nonprofit. But before you read this, and after you read this, I’d leave you with this: hire a qualified, experienced agency to do this for you. Anyone (like volunteers within the company) can do a shoddy job. There’s a reason large companies can spend a half million of a marketing budget just on brand strategy.Anyways, here is a starting point:Understand a brand as accumulated experience. Many people think of a logo as a brand, but that’s not accurate. A logo is a small part of a brand, but that’s it. A brand is the connection formed in the hearts and minds of your audience through their accumulated experience with you. A brand is a gut feeling, a sense, a connection. It’s that little voice inside a person’s head that sums up every experience that person has had with you, positive or negative.Every touch point matters. It’s easy to look at the big whales like Apple or Gucci and say “Well, they can invest in cohesive branding but it doesn’t make sense for a nonprofit like us.” But you are already doing what they do! Cohesive branding. Every time a sponsor, donor, recruit, or volunteer engages with you, you are creating experiences for them that are forming your brand. Maybe you’re sending a hundred mixed signals. Powerful things happen to your results when you create a cohesive, aligned brand experience powered by a positive message. Take every touch point (every moment a customer/donor/sponsor/partner interacts with you), and give it an intentional message, tied to your brand goals.Branding is strategic. It involves art, but it is not art. Branding is design, and to design is to create with intent. If you can define your organizational goals clearly, they can be expressed and amplified by a branding system that delivers concrete results. Branding is not about just looking pretty. It can and should always be directly tied to hard, measurable results.Make the long term play. Branding as a long term investment, with a long term pay off. Most NPOs are setting goals to increase a donor base by X% or increase community awareness by X% in 2 years. A powerful, category-defining brand will separate you from the highly competitive NPO market and make achieving these goals a possibility year after year.Use the law of attraction. Make yourself attractive, and recruits, partners, donors, and sponsors start to look for you, not the other way around. People want to associate with people who make them look good. If your messaging is attractive and you engage with the public, that reflects well on the people who partner with you.Branding is not just for big business. Perception is what drives virtually every human action. What people believe about you and your mission is what drives their decision making. Don’t let their opinion be formed by an outdated logo, slow website, angry phone call, or dead social media accounts. You are always branding, whether you know it or not. The question is: to what effect?Your nonprofit goals can be better achieved with branding. Marketing, branding, messaging. These words can leave an “icky” or “business-y” taste in the mouth of many who work at worthy, mission-driven nonprofits. But you don’t have to be anything other than what you already are. If you learn to communicate your message and values more effectively, and you just might be shocked by the results!Other resources can be found here: Successful Marketing Strategies for Nonprofits