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There is a great Alvin Toffler quote that foretold this: " One of the functions of a legislature is to negotiate compromises among various constituencies. Well,
by georgeecollins 8y ago
There is a great Alvin Toffler quote that foretold this:
"
One of the functions of a legislature is to negotiate compromises among various constituencies. Well, the constituencies today are so numerous, their demands are so complex, and the rate of change in their demands and in the constituencies is so high that nobody in Congress represents anybody anymore. They represent themselves. Because their constituency changes from day to day. And as a consequence, their ability to broker out differences to arrive at compromise is more limited than it was.
"
- jbob2000 8y agoI had this same thought when thinking about Toronto and their distinct lack of action on public transit. We keep flip flopping on whether or not to build this or build that or tear down this or that, blah blah blah. It’s all because the city is waaaayyy too diverse and there’s literally no way to meet in the middle on this; somebody is going to lose, and anybody losing is unfathomable, so the better option is... for everybody to lose.
- georgeecollins 8y agoAnother thing is how commentators describe constituencies in psycho-graphic terms, not concrete interests. You hear that rural people are "unhappy and left behind." Well some rural people in England are that, and some work at the Nissan factory and they probably don't see Brexit as being good for their job. The point is that there aren't enough people working at an automobile plant (in England) to form a really powerful constituency. Society is more fragmented and there are fewer large blocks of people who have a concrete political interest.