[EM] Did you want anchovies with your election?

[Ed Pastore]

On Nov 25, 2012, at 9:09 PM, Richard Fobes wrote:

> From a Canadian blog post at http://edges.canadahomepage.net/2012/11/ -- written by Jim Taylor -- here is an interesting metaphor that demonstrates why plurality voting is so unfair:
> 
>> There’s these five guys, see. They’re short on cash, so they pool their resources to buy a pizza. They can only afford one topping.
>> 
>> Two of the guys love anchovies. The other three hate anchovies, but can’t agree on pepperoni, ham, or mushrooms.
>> 
>> Guess what – everyone gets anchovies.

Close, but in representative democracies, the only thing people get to decide is what pizza shop they want to go to. Then once they pick one, the pizza shop gets to decide what toppings they will have, how much pizza they will be allowed to eat, and how much it will cost.

And perhaps one shop is promising to provide anchovies, so that's what the two people vote for, while the other three vote for individual other shops.

Guess what - everyone gets overpriced burnt toast.


Ed Pastore
http://metagovernment.org/wiki/User:Ed_Pastore