by crfriend » Wed Oct 07, 2020 8:26 am
rode_kater wrote: ↑Wed Oct 07, 2020 1:13 am
The flip-side to this is that the effect of a person's vote should somehow be correlated with distance. That is, is it correct that 5 million people in one corner of a country can fundamentally impact the lives of people living thousands of kilometres away? But this raises basic questions about how fair a federal structure the size of the US can actually be.
Oh, about as fair as the Soviet Union or the Peoples Republic of China...
Re: Non - US views on last night’s election debate
by rode_kater » Wed Oct 07, 2020 1:13 am
Faldaguy wrote: ↑Tue Oct 06, 2020 4:06 pm
Thanks guys for reiterating that it is people that count; not land areas, counties, cities or rocks.
OK, at the risk of overly exciting our prejudices -- I am posting a piece of "humor" (that tongue in cheek,) "borders" on jingoistic. This piece is a translation from Spanish so the English is a bit rough. It is not my writing, and was clearly written from a more left leaning than right leaning perspective -- but the supposed facts could easily be altered to make the piece read from the right's perspective. I have taken out a couple sentences that might have been a bit more inflammatory. The reason I'm posting it is because it can provoke some insights into the issue of land mass vs voter density; and issues raised in this thread about the electoral college and fair representational systems. Please do not take it as fact; opinion, erudite--just chuckle where you can and wonder about the ways we can work as a whole rather than in isolation. I also recognize this is an "International" site and many of the things we post here are not of universal interest or of much import--so let's keep it cool and "off topic" remembering that we as SC members have a great deal we do enjoy in common throughout this forum.
Ignore the grammar -- it is translation.
A joke is circulating that allegedly announces what would result in the division between the Blue States (Democratic Majority) and the Reds (Republicans) ′′ mood for the day
DEAR RED STATES; WE GO.
We've decided we're leaving. We plan to form our own country, and we take the other blue states with us.
In case you didn't know, that includes Hawaii, Oregon, California, New Mexico, Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and all the Northeast.
We believe that this division will be beneficial for the nation, and especially for the people of the new country that will include Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam and Washington, D.C.
We would also be touched by the vast majority of major ports. So good luck with importing goods inside or outside the country affordable.
Costco, Starbucks and Boeing is also up to us. You get Texas, Oklahoma and all slave states.
We have the most laboratories in stem cell research and the best beaches.
We get the Statue of Liberty. To you Branson, Missouri.
We have Intel, Apple and Microsoft. You guys will get WorldCom.
We have 85 percent of US venture capital and business owners. You Mississippi River.
We would get two-thirds of tax revenues; you guys would have to get the red states to pay their fair share.
Since our aggregate divorce rate is 22 percent lower.... we have a lot of families happier and more intact.
Please note that California will be pro-choice of life and anti-war....
With the blue states unified, we'll have a firm control of 80 percent of the country's freshwater, more than 90 percent of pineapple and lettuce, 92 percent of the nation's fresh fruit, the 95 percent of US quality wines. (You could serve French wines at state protocol dinners) 90 percent of all cheese, 90 percent of the high-tech industry, most of the US. U.S. Low sulphur coal, all living sequoia, drought and condors, all Ivy League Universities and Seven Sisters -- Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Penn, Princeton and Yale; and also Mount Holyoke, Vassar, Smith, Wellesley, Bryn Mawr, Barnard and Radcliffe; plus UCLA UCB, Stanford, Cal Tech and MIT....
In the Red States, on the other hand, you'll have to deal with 88 percent of all obese Americans (and their projected healthcare costs), 92 percent of all American mosquitoes... nearly 100 percent of all tornadoes, 90 percent of hurricanes, 99 percent of all Southern Baptists, virtually 100 percent of all televangelists, Rush Limbaugh, Alex Jones and Rand Paul...
We have Hollywood and Yosemite thank you so much.
Also, 62 percent of you believe life is sacred unless we are discussing the death penalty or gun laws, 44 percent say evolution is just a theory, 53 percent that Saddam was involved in 9/11 and 61 percent of you think.... and you can have all the new cases of COVID-19 because you're you prefer not to wear masks.
Peace, change and out!