[EM] New election system proposed - Larger votes for poorer people.

[Alex Small]

Steve Glickman said:
> Hey group,
>
> My name is Steve Glickman. I'm the president and founder of a new
> movement called the Fair Choice Party. The FCP promotes the idea of
> curving the size of vote size so that poorer people get larger votes.
> The basic principle is to establish a system where each of us is
> permitted to choose fairly between how much participation (vote) and
> insulation (wealth) we want. It's a radical new step in the direction
> of social justice; brought into focus recently by our technology.


It's a nice idea.  Really, it is.  BUT....


Any time we start trying to say that a particular group of people should
have more power (per person) in the political arena, things get messy.

Look at redistricting disputes, where people try to decide which
particular minority group (be it racial, economic, or other) deserves its
own safe district.  At some point the political enemies of that group will
offer a "favor" and corral them all into one district, so they're
guaranteed a seat in the legislature but they have less impact than if
they were seeded across several districts that were closely divided
politically.  The situation makes no sense.

Look at the Electoral College.  People actually argue with a straight face
that a person living in Barstow, CA should be one tiny voice among 35
million or so, while a person living a short distance away in Nevada
enjoys more influence over a disproportionately large bloc of votes.  I'm
still trying to wrap my brain around that one.

The British tried the opposite of your proposal, giving more political
power to the well-heeled and well-born, and nobody likes that very much.

Some countries give their clerics disproportionate power to protect
values.  Last I checked the Middle East is rife with violations of that
divine commandment against killing.

Some countries give all political power to the pre-vetted members of the
single established party, to protect whatever their state is allegedly
based on.  Last I checked the major exports of most such countries are
citizens who know how to swim (e.g. Cuba, Vietnam, etc.).

I could go on and on with examples, but the point is that we're all far
better off if we just make every citizen equal in the voting booth.  Now,
if you want to complain about the way people use money to buy and sell
politicians, that's a completely different story.....


Alex Small


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