Politics and such
A preface: I just got back from an on-the-spot admissions event for the U of MN and, to put it bluntly, the safety school is in the bag.
I was thinking while showering a few days ago (two increasingly rare events, now that the Minnesota climate allows me to go hours without sweating), and it occured to me that, in all likelihood, 80 percent of Americans agree with 80 percent of the conservative agenda and 80 percent (not the same 80 percent, but obviously a substantial overlap(>60%)) agree with 80 percent of the liberal agenda. This is plausible because I, for one, am more liberal than the vast majority of Americans, or even self-described liberals, and a majority of the GOP platform seems reasonable, if not valid. Thus, the plurality requirement for elections means that partisans must appeal to the outliers from either side (forget all the centrism crap you've heard--most centrists, if they are truely centrist, don't care who wins) in order to gain power. As a consequence, because there is only limited lawmaking power in Congress, the majority of policies that get passed are outside of the mainstream consensus, and the stuff that most people think is a good idea doesn't go anywhere. This leads to two statements:
1) Sad, ain't it?
2) Any solutions? (Don't say parliamentary government, 'cuz I've already considered that.)
I was thinking while showering a few days ago (two increasingly rare events, now that the Minnesota climate allows me to go hours without sweating), and it occured to me that, in all likelihood, 80 percent of Americans agree with 80 percent of the conservative agenda and 80 percent (not the same 80 percent, but obviously a substantial overlap(>60%)) agree with 80 percent of the liberal agenda. This is plausible because I, for one, am more liberal than the vast majority of Americans, or even self-described liberals, and a majority of the GOP platform seems reasonable, if not valid. Thus, the plurality requirement for elections means that partisans must appeal to the outliers from either side (forget all the centrism crap you've heard--most centrists, if they are truely centrist, don't care who wins) in order to gain power. As a consequence, because there is only limited lawmaking power in Congress, the majority of policies that get passed are outside of the mainstream consensus, and the stuff that most people think is a good idea doesn't go anywhere. This leads to two statements:
1) Sad, ain't it?
2) Any solutions? (Don't say parliamentary government, 'cuz I've already considered that.)
posted by Michael Barany at 7:20 PM
2 Comments:
Ha ha. The presence of a comment made you think another TASPer cared enough to respond to this post. Now you MUST provide input!
Well Mr. Barai I am posting cuz I decided to not because you made me or anything.(JK) (Yesahmassa)haha joke well anyways I enjoyed your post thoroughly I think it was the first time I actually had to think today like really it was great and good point. You should write an essay and win 10 billion in scholarships haha well keep on keepin on and hopefully we'll see each other in the near future!! Adios great amigo del norte
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