We have so much tension because we’re at a tipping point between long held religious dominance and a future where religious beliefs alone will no longer have the power to sway public policy. It’s just a question of how long this is going to take.
Ribbit
Lack of voting is one problem, but the overarching problem is how we select our representatives. We have a two party system with winner takes all elections which cements the two party system. You pretty much have to vote for one party or the other otherwise you’re essentially throwing away your vote. Personally, I think a system like ranked choice would be an improvement. At least then you could vote your conscience, and if your first choice doesn’t make it then your vote goes towards your 2nd, 3rd, etc. A system like that should produce a result that is closer to the ideological center of the voters.
Ribbit
Ranked Choice is about the worst voting system designed. Possible only beaten by Plurality.
This 3-hour long video goes pretty in depth on why it’s horrendously bad. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-dzK3YIAf8
The TLDR is that Ranked Choice is complex, meaning that it cannot be counted at the polling location. It must be counted at a single location, which is a single point of failure. This has led to real world failures in the 2011 Alameda County election and the 2021 NYC Mayoral Election.
Note that these were direct failures that were only possible under Ranked Choice.
Then there are cases like the 2009 Burlington Mayoral election that resulted in the repeal of their Ranked Choice election laws.
Which is the main issue I have with the system. It’s so bad that it actually sets voting reform efforts back. It makes it that much harder to implement an actually good voting system.
I am currently recommending STAR. It’s easy to understand because everyone knows how 5-star reviews work. It’s easy to count, because it’s just addition, and then a second round of addition. It can be counted at the polling locations, so there’s no single point of failure.
if one could vote without being signed up for a lot of ancillary bullshit, more people would vote. I personally am not registered to vote in the state I live in because I dont want anything to do with the jury system.
Voting doesn’t matter when your only choices are bevis and butt head. That is by design.
Ribbit
Removed by mod
The right thinks the left is going to force their kids to get sex changes, the center and left see the right as wanting to end voting rights
the center and left see the right as wanting to end voting rights
It’s less of “see the right” and more of “has observed the right”. We just had Moore v. Harper which had republicans pushing the independent state legislature theory where they argued state legislatures had sole authority to decide how elections are conducted and could change the rules however they wanted. Even if it meant disenfranchising voters. Thankfully SCOTUS shot it down.
Sorry if I wasn’t clear. By see I meant literally see it happen before their eyes. See=observe
Nah, you’re cool. A little bit of a fail on my part. I’m hyped up on caffeine and see the change in your sentence from “thinks” to “see”.
Right view of Left: satanist groomers
Right view of Center: sheeple
Right view of Right: “you’re white enough, you can date my daughter if I can date yours”Center view of Left: unionized HR professionals with blue hair
Center view of Center: ordinary chill folks
Center view of Right: scary uncles and/or scary incelsLeft view of Left: splitters!
Left view of Center: sheeple
Left view of Right: “you realize y’all are actual fucking Nazi pedos, yeah?”As a center person, this is how I feel as well.
They really are Nazi pedos, though.
Yeah, but the alternative is working with the union instead of against it, so…
Meanwhile the actual left is largely ignored.
We haven’t had real democracy since Dubya stole office; who are we even kidding anymore?
Speaking in terms of economic power, we pretty much haven’t had real democracy ever.
eh, democracy is fine but the current batch of politicians are fucked. we need to get a batch of under 50 year old folks in congress/senate/white house. enough of these 70+ year old geezers.
Hard to be pessimistic about something that doesn’t exist. The US is not a democracy and never has been. Our votes are not equal and there are many institutions in place to ensure that our vote can just not matter whenever is convenient for those in power, both on state and federal levels.
Edit: remember when we voted for the Supreme Court members? Lol. It’s all a joke fam.
Quick Civics Lesson: A Representative Republic IS a form of democracy. Saying the United States isn’t a democracy is false.
