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Why would you pick out voting when our entire political system is complicated and has a direct impact on people's lives? Look at the electoral college. My 80-ye

by sbf501 4y ago

Why would you pick out voting when our entire political system is complicated and has a direct impact on people's lives? Look at the electoral college. My 80-year-old parents still have no idea how it works, and IMHO it is just as important as voting to ensure faith in the system. How can we trust voting when a governor can appoint electors and subvert the will of the people? EDIT: Grammar: my parents are 80 years old, I don't have 80 parents.

MichaelCollins 4y ago
> Look at the electoral college. My 80 parents still have no idea how it works, It's the devil they know. An obvious broken system that nevertheless has a track record of delivering the priority goal, peaceful transitions of power, is safer than the unknown.
- Spivak 4y ago
  Also, in some weird twisted way, it's fun. It's like arguing over the ref's calls at a football game. I know how this will come off but it's true -- one of the oddities of the US political system is that despite it being bitterly polarized the majority is largely unaffected by politics in any meaningful way. This isn't to say that politics couldn't have big effects on people's lives but despite the marketing both parties are generally interested in protecting the status quo, not disrupting existing power structures, and making small incremental changes. Again I really hate to distill it down to this but if you're white, above the poverty line, and put as much distance as possible between you and the justice system, to first order it doesn't really matter who you vote for -- your interests are protected. The biggest divides between the two parties are policies that affect vulnerable populations.
intrasight 4y ago
>My 80 parents still have no idea how it works This last election demonstrated that nobody knows how it works - because of the complexity and unwritten "norms", and therefore we end up leaving up to judges to decide the election.
- sbf501 4y ago
  You're getting downvoted but I agree with you. I've referred to Trump as the ultimate pen-tester of the US political system.
  - intrasight 4y ago
    I like that analogy

by sbf501 4y ago

MichaelCollins 4y ago

> Look at the electoral college. My 80 parents still have no idea how it works, It's the devil they know. An obvious broken system that nevertheless has a track record of delivering the priority goal, peaceful transitions of power, is safer than the unknown.

Spivak 4y ago
Also, in some weird twisted way, it's fun. It's like arguing over the ref's calls at a football game. I know how this will come off but it's true -- one of the oddities of the US political system is that despite it being bitterly polarized the majority is largely unaffected by politics in any meaningful way. This isn't to say that politics couldn't have big effects on people's lives but despite the marketing both parties are generally interested in protecting the status quo, not disrupting existing power structures, and making small incremental changes. Again I really hate to distill it down to this but if you're white, above the poverty line, and put as much distance as possible between you and the justice system, to first order it doesn't really matter who you vote for -- your interests are protected. The biggest divides between the two parties are policies that affect vulnerable populations.

intrasight 4y ago

>My 80 parents still have no idea how it works This last election demonstrated that nobody knows how it works - because of the complexity and unwritten "norms", and therefore we end up leaving up to judges to decide the election.

sbf501 4y ago
You're getting downvoted but I agree with you. I've referred to Trump as the ultimate pen-tester of the US political system.
- intrasight 4y ago
  I like that analogy