[Election-Methods] Partisan Politics

[Fred Gohlke]

And a cheerful Sunday Morning to you, Juho

re:  "No need to have very strong opposing arguments ..."

Well, opposing arguments should be as strong as anyone can make them. 
Any weakness in an idea should be attacked and broken down rationally. 
Frequently, looking carefully at a weakness provides the basis for 
strengthening it.  The result may well enhance the basic idea.

In this connection, I've had the privilege of discussing Active 
Democracy with a gentleman in the U. K.  This gentleman would prefer 
more Direct Democracy in our governments.  He and I started out with 
widely divergent views and have narrowed the divergence considerably.

One interesting concept that arose from our discussion came about 
through consideration of the treatment of Overflow:  those voters who do 
not fit neatly into groups of the size in use (if you have 100 voters 
and set up groups of 3, what do you do with the person left over when 
you've assigned 99 voters to 33 groups?)  I won't bore you with the 
substance of our discussion.  Suffice it to say, it opened a new door in 
my mind.  The point is that neither of us sought to prove the other 
"wrong".  Instead, we looked at the merit in each other's point of view 
and found a way to meld the strengths of both to sketch a better solution.


re: "... the new theory must be given enough time and 
thinking/discussion so that people feel it is safe to jump into that new 
boat."

That's true.  Contradictory as it may seem, I'm not a fan of change ... 
we live in an era when the economic benefit of fads and fashion inundate 
us with waste ... but that doesn't stop me from suggesting change when 
it seems necessary.


re: "... I think the new president, whoever he/she will be, has an 
opportunity to do something meaningful if he/she so wants and has the 
idea and strength."

I agree the opportunity will be there but I've been through far too many 
of these changes in the power structure to believe they will work to the 
benefit of the humans among us.  During my lifetime, I've watched the 
growing dominance of our government by vested interests and seen 
humanity squeezed out of our society.  I see nothing in the present 
farce that will counter the trend.

Fred