5 ms·

Let's play a game. It's called "NAME! YOUR! REPRESENTATIVES!!!!". We'll start with the easiest and work our way up (subjectively): 1) Who's the President? 2)

Let's play a game. It's called "NAME! YOUR! REPRESENTATIVES!!!!". We'll start with the easiest and work our way up (subjectively): 1) Who's the President? 2) Who's your Governor? 3) Who's your Mayor? 4) Who are your Senators? 5) Who's your Representative? 6) Who's your State Senator? 7) Who's your State Representative/Assembly member?* I ask these questions every time someone brings up their "The system is rigged, maaaaan". I've only found a handful of people that could name their Representative. Most people can't even name their senators. I always find it fascinating how people are able to trash talk their representatives when they don't even know who they are. * Excluding you communist unicameral Nebraskans

guard-of-terra 11y ago
Sounds like a useful website to have.
- lloyd-christmas 11y ago
  http://whoismyrepresentative.com/ http://whoismyrepresentative.com/
khattam 11y ago
The way system is setup, there is no way someone who cares for me is in any of those positions, because I did nothing to put them there, and nor did anyone who voted for them. They did it themselves and got help from people who they can help back. You can waste your time knowing about these people and trying to get them to do something which you think is good for everyone even though there are powerful people who pay him to not do it, or spend the time to be one day in a position to get them to do something good for you by paying them. I think the latter will be much more effective and long term that you don't need to know anything or anyone. You just need to find the person who has that power. When that person is no longer in power, just find the next one who is. If you never need those people, even better that you didn't spend time on any of those shitheads.
- rms_returns 11y ago
  > because I did nothing to put them there But you have the power to vote and that is the power which puts them there eventually, directly or indirectly. Even if you did nothing, your power to vote DOES influence that entire chain of people. So, next time you decide to vote for your local politician, do a thorough research about him/her and make sure you are choosing the right candidate, for your decision affects others too. Imagine how many reviews, ratings, articles, research papers you read on the internet before buying a laptop or an iphone or android phone! Even if you spend a tenth of that effort in researching the politician, the whole country will benefit from that!
  - lloyd-christmas 11y ago
    > do a thorough research about him/her Take it a step further and publish that research.
    - azernik 11y ago
      There are already people to do this - League of Women Voters and their voter guide, for example. But another voter guide specifically aimed at illuminating issues not covered by other guides is always a worthy endeavor.
      - lloyd-christmas 11y ago
        Yep. It doesn't even need to be in depth. "Here's who I voted for and why" in a blog post is enough to give even the most basic of information about a candidate, as well as just remind people it's voting season.
mikeash 11y ago
Only three of those people have influence over copyright law. And what does it matter if I know their names? Despite the propaganda, one vote doesn't make a difference. I still vote, but I'm also pretty sure it's a waste of my time. It's one of those game theory things. If everyone got out to vote it would be good, but my individual contribution is unimportant.
- azernik 11y ago
  The point was that if you can't answer, many others can't either. And all of their votes can make a difference. Even the people who turn out for Presidential elections (when their votes arguably make the least difference) usually don't know enough and their legislative representatives to make an informed decision, and tend not to show up for the off-year elections when it's only those offices up.
  - lloyd-christmas 11y ago
    > and tend not to show up for the off-year elections when it's only those offices up In 2014, Senator Jeff Sessions R-Ala. was "elected" without an opponent. In that same year, 32 other Representatives were "elected" without any opposition, my own Representative included. 28 more didn't have a "major party" opponent. That means ~14% of all Representatives had little or no competition.
  - mikeash 11y ago
    I thought the point was that we're supposed to know the names of all these people and that this somehow helps.

guard-of-terra 11y ago

Sounds like a useful website to have.

lloyd-christmas 11y ago
http://whoismyrepresentative.com/ http://whoismyrepresentative.com/

khattam 11y ago

The way system is setup, there is no way someone who cares for me is in any of those positions, because I did nothing to put them there, and nor did anyone who voted for them. They did it themselves and got help from people who they can help back. You can waste your time knowing about these people and trying to get them to do something which you think is good for everyone even though there are powerful people who pay him to not do it, or spend the time to be one day in a position to get them to do something good for you by paying them. I think the latter will be much more effective and long term that you don't need to know anything or anyone. You just need to find the person who has that power. When that person is no longer in power, just find the next one who is. If you never need those people, even better that you didn't spend time on any of those shitheads.

rms_returns 11y ago
> because I did nothing to put them there But you have the power to vote and that is the power which puts them there eventually, directly or indirectly. Even if you did nothing, your power to vote DOES influence that entire chain of people. So, next time you decide to vote for your local politician, do a thorough research about him/her and make sure you are choosing the right candidate, for your decision affects others too. Imagine how many reviews, ratings, articles, research papers you read on the internet before buying a laptop or an iphone or android phone! Even if you spend a tenth of that effort in researching the politician, the whole country will benefit from that!
- lloyd-christmas 11y ago
  > do a thorough research about him/her Take it a step further and publish that research.
  - azernik 11y ago
    There are already people to do this - League of Women Voters and their voter guide, for example. But another voter guide specifically aimed at illuminating issues not covered by other guides is always a worthy endeavor.
    - lloyd-christmas 11y ago
      Yep. It doesn't even need to be in depth. "Here's who I voted for and why" in a blog post is enough to give even the most basic of information about a candidate, as well as just remind people it's voting season.

mikeash 11y ago

Only three of those people have influence over copyright law. And what does it matter if I know their names? Despite the propaganda, one vote doesn't make a difference. I still vote, but I'm also pretty sure it's a waste of my time. It's one of those game theory things. If everyone got out to vote it would be good, but my individual contribution is unimportant.

azernik 11y ago
The point was that if you can't answer, many others can't either. And all of their votes can make a difference. Even the people who turn out for Presidential elections (when their votes arguably make the least difference) usually don't know enough and their legislative representatives to make an informed decision, and tend not to show up for the off-year elections when it's only those offices up.
- lloyd-christmas 11y ago
  > and tend not to show up for the off-year elections when it's only those offices up In 2014, Senator Jeff Sessions R-Ala. was "elected" without an opponent. In that same year, 32 other Representatives were "elected" without any opposition, my own Representative included. 28 more didn't have a "major party" opponent. That means ~14% of all Representatives had little or no competition.
- mikeash 11y ago
  I thought the point was that we're supposed to know the names of all these people and that this somehow helps.