These elections are rapidly becoming Theatres of the Bizarre. I don’t believe we have ever had so many grotesque characters participating in the public election process. What worries me most is the acceptance of even the most outrageous claims and statements by a large portion of the general public. Something is wrong, very wrong with the electoral process.
Something is wrong, very wrong with the electoral process.
True. A few things that would help. 1. Pubiicly funded campaigns with no human allowed to contribute more than #100, and no company, political party, etc. allowed to participate. 2. Require all voting districts to be formed with greatest compactness with a computer program, without considering positive or negative caging. 3. Use popular vote, not electoral college, etc. 4. Assure that all citizens have the right to vote. 5. Assure that all citizens get at least two years of civics, social science, political science in elementary and high school. 6. Avoid voting machines unless their results can be clearly verified.
Oh, thanks… I was cooking dinner and checking out the forum. So much for appetite.
Sorry, I was hoping to induce amusement, moreso, than a gastrointestinal disturbance. Oh well, if we’re not laughing (and eating), they are winning. I guess they are winning, or at least they are doing better than they should be.
In regard to the problems with the electoral system:
A few weeks ago I had an interesting discussion with a retired mathematician/statistician. He had studied voting systems and when I asked him about the Instant Run Off system he didn’t like it. His issue was that in a wide field of candidates, candidates who would win later in the run off process can lose in the initial rounds. For example, if there was a left wing candidate and several right wing candidates, one of whom is a moderate. In an election, the left wing candidate would get the left initial left wing vote, but the moderate candidate would be their common second choice. If one of the more extreme right wing candidates received more votes in the initial round, the moderate candidate would be dropped, and one of the more extreme candidates might eventually be elected, even though, had the moderate made it to the second round he would have received a clear majority. The mathematician was able to cite several actual instances of this happening in places where IRO voting had been instituted. In his opinion the voting system most reflective of the will of the people is one where the voter, instead of having only one vote, can vote for any, all, or none of the candidates. He said this system had it faults, too.
True. A few things that would help. 1. Pubiicly funded campaigns with no human allowed to contribute more than #100, and no company, political party, etc. allowed to participate. 2. Require all voting districts to be formed with greatest compactness with a computer program, without considering positive or negative caging. 3. Use popular vote, not electoral college, etc. 4. Assure that all citizens have the right to vote. 5. Assure that all citizens get at least two years of civics, social science, political science in elementary and high school. 6. Avoid voting machines unless their results can be clearly verified
Right on the money Occam, but I would add 3-4 years of social science especially in middle school and high school including history and government (state and national) and mandatory coorespondence with all state and local officials on current issues. The kids are after all, potential voters who need to recognize hot button issues for what they are, red herrings. Of course they also need to know what a red herring really means. And add 7. rescend title 47 of the Federal Communications Act allowing candidates to LIE, yes lie. Oops, if we did that then the fact checkers would be out of a job. Well, they could always ask their parents for a loan to go back to school and retrain for a more relevent job.
True. A few things that would help. 1. Pubiicly funded campaigns with no human allowed to contribute more than #100, and no company, political party, etc. allowed to participate. 2. Require all voting districts to be formed with greatest compactness with a computer program, without considering positive or negative caging. 3. Use popular vote, not electoral college, etc. 4. Assure that all citizens have the right to vote. 5. Assure that all citizens get at least two years of civics, social science, political science in elementary and high school. 6. Avoid voting machines unless their results can be clearly verified
Right on the money Occam, but I would add 3-4 years of social science especially in middle school and high school including history and government (state and national) and mandatory coorespondence with all state and local officials on current issues. The kids are after all, potential voters who need to recognize hot button issues for what they are, red herrings. Of course they also need to know what a red herring really means. And add 7. rescend title 47 of the Federal Communications Act allowing candidates to LIE, yes lie. Oops, if we did that then the fact checkers would be out of a job. Well, they could always ask their parents for a loan to go back to school and retrain for a more relevent job.
This is almost exactly what I posed before in a previous thread. People have to go through a free crash course on politics, government, and critical thinking. It got shot down by several forum members who all stated that this would open up a can of worms, because who is going to approve the content of these tests?
Something is wrong, very wrong with the electoral process.
True. A few things that would help. 1. Pubiicly funded campaigns with no human allowed to contribute more than #100, and no company, political party, etc. allowed to participate. 2. Require all voting districts to be formed with greatest compactness with a computer program, without considering positive or negative caging. 3. Use popular vote, not electoral college, etc. 4. Assure that all citizens have the right to vote. 5. Assure that all citizens get at least two years of civics, social science, political science in elementary and high school. 6. Avoid voting machines unless their results can be clearly verified.
Occam
Where are we supposed to work in those two years of civics? Our education system is already overtaxed as it is. I supposed we could trim other courses, but where do we start and who determines what gets the axe?
Where are we supposed to work in those two years of civics? Our education system is already overtaxed as it is. I supposed we could trim other courses, but where do we start and who determines what gets the axe?
I was on the committee to develop the social studies curriculum for Ohio and our recommendation was four years of the social sciences from 9-12 in secondary ed. We began with 19th century History, 20th century Hist. Government and practical application of government including all major Supreme Court decisions and how they applied to today. It can be done DM. Civics was taught in the 8th grade BTW and nothing got the axe.
If it can be added without unduly compromising the course or slashing elsewhere, then that’s all well and good.
It seems to be that most of the time when people say, “We need such-and-such tought more in schools” they haven’t actually thought through what it would take to squeeze it in. Or they don’t care.
It seems to be that most of the time when people say, “We need such-and-such tought more in schools” they haven’t actually thought through what it would take to squeeze it in. Or they don’t care.
I hate to say this but the general public doesn’t really care. They’re more interested keeping little Johnny out of their hair for 8 hours. Check it out: we have students only 30% of their lives. The other 70 is spent at home or the mall. Ohio mandated only 182 instruction days. We need to expand these and go to year round school with breaks in between. But this idea is shouted down by parents who want to keep the antiquated Summer months off schedule that we haven’t needed since the late 19th Century.
I saw a show about “Electoral Dysfunction” in which a segment showed a grade school class get an en vivo lesson on a democratic vote vs. an electoral college vote. It may have taken a few hours out of their school life, but those kids probably learned something that will stick with them, (as to what apparently seemed to them as an unfair process). And those grade schoolers may now know more about the electoral college than most Americans.
If it can be added without unduly compromising the course or slashing elsewhere, then that’s all well and good.
It seems to be that most of the time when people say, “We need such-and-such tought more in schools” they haven’t actually thought through what it would take to squeeze it in. Or they don’t care.
When I was in high school (granted, dinosaurs shared the earth with me at the time), passing Civics was a graduation requirement in the state of CA. Not only did we have to take it, we had to PASS it. People would know much more about the Constitution of the United States if they actually had to spend a semester studying it like I did.
I was cooking dinner and checking out the forum. So much for appetite.
