[EM] Buying Votes

[Greg Nisbet]

As I mentioned a thread ago, commodification of voting is dangerous.

In the coming message, I will explain the negative externalities
associated with this.

This all comes down to the very nature of voting and democracy.

As I have attempted to explain, voting is the exact opposite of
individual rights and concensus.

All of you know what democracy does, but let me put it in the context
of commodification.

In every reasonable voting method (remember democracy is distinct from
concensus), it is possible for me to gain power by pleasing some
subset of society (so long as that subset is sufficiently large).

The people whom I must convince to support my decision can be
different than the ones who will bear its cost.

I'll call this the Separation of Recipients. Elections divorce benefit
and cost. Normally, I cannot buy something and defer the cost to
someone else without their consent.

This is always present in any democratic society.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_paradox

Majority rule and individual rights are inconsistent.

Let me explain why commodification of votes is particularly damning.

The entire system of democracy comes crashing down if some majority
votes itself into autocracy. Thankfully, people are bad at
cooperating. Unless votes are verifiable. Think about it, lobbying
exists because lobbyists can see how Congresspeople vote. Such blatant
absues do not occur at voter-level.

Vote verifiability and hence commodification make it possible for me
to trade someone else's well-being for my own. If I act selfishly, I
vote for whichever action brings me the slightest increase in my
well-being whatever the cost to some external party so long as I can
be compensated for the difficulty of voting and loss of the old
winner. I will vote my pocketbook.

This is not to say that democracy is bad.

It is unstable and inefficient, but also peaceful, prosperous,
utilitarian, and the champion of human rights. It will continue to
work so long as voters can cheat their solicitors.