Not JW related, but should the electoral college be abolished?

by Billzfan23 29 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Abaddon

  The electoral college is NOT democratic.

  It means that relatively small numbers of people can hold back progress. Because of this, it means those seeking for commercial or religious reasons to oppose progress can very cost effectively target these small population areas and make them fear the progress being embraced by what are almost more inevitably more cosmopolitan and populous areas.

  The electoral college is a tool of the conservative elite designed to suppress democratic processes.

  It's interesting how people are actually using the talking points of the conservatives opposed to abolishing the electoral college. Where more people in a country want A instead of B means A happens is not called democracy, but 'mob mentality majority rule'. Shocking.

  Likewise, the lie that 'democracies fail' will come as a surprise to most European countries which operate under a system of proportional representation, and many of whom rank higher than the USA in the index of freedom compiled by the Cato Institute (https://www.cato.org/human-freedom-index-new). If you look at the average personal tex rate in, for example, Norway and the US, it's 38.25% in Norway and 37% in the US. Norway, a country with universal healthcare, comprehensive care for the retired, a poverty rate 1/3 of the US, free higher education, and less than 1/10th the incarceration rate of the US. To be honest, the US could do with 'failing' like that democracy.

  Sad news is, if you're against the electoral college, it doesn't matter. Demographic change means some large red states are going to turn blue forever in the next 10 years or so. Even with the electoral college, reactionary conservatives will not be able to stop change.
• 

  minimus

  An, a lot of predictions and opinions . We will have to see what will happen.
• 

  mikeflood

  The Electoral College shouldn't be abolished because is working just fine, of course it's not perfect but gives power to people in States that a simple majority could leave outside. Just check, each State have two Senators, not taking in account how bigger or smaller they are.

  Changing the rules each time we don't like could look great at the moment. Remember, it seems now a long since the Senate changed the so called 'nuclear option', I mean things could backfire.
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  JeffT

  I hope Trump wins the popular vote and loses the electoral college. It will be a generation before we have to engage in this stupid argument again.

  PS, Senators weren't meant to represent people. They represent the interests of the state, or they're supposes to.
  
• 

  JeffT

  Just out of curiosity, how many on this thread have read the US Constitution and The Federalist Papers?
  
• 

  Simon

  If Clinton had won, would they think abolishing the electoral college was of paramount importance?

  Of course not. They are just bad losers.

  Same goes for expanding the supreme court - what, it's not "fair" if their side doesn't always have a majority - is that how they think things should be?

  The electoral college is there as a protection against corruption and so that the lower populated states still have a say in what happens in the union. There was a very good page I found explaining the nuances of the protection it provides and how well thought out it was. I'll try and find it.
• 

  nonjwspouse

  "I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

  It is clearly not "and to the Democracy for which it stands".
  
• 

  SonoftheTrinity

  If you want the Texas and California independence movements to only get stronger, do absolutely nothing about the electoral college.
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  silentbuddha

  Abolish the electoral college and basically NewYork, Florida, and California will control the country...
• 

  DwainBowman

  We do not have one Election, we have 50 of them with Each State holding its own election. The simple reason it's set up this way is to prevent, a small handful of states, from running everything!!!

  This like so many things used to be taught in school, and everyone understood it well!!!!