I am going to preface this by saying that this was shared with me by a friend and I am still trying to get my head wrapped around it. I am not an expert or even well read on the subject but do believe that the voting systems in Canada need to change. I post in the interest of building the discussion in this community.
<Quote> I like single transferrable vote (STV), but it’s unlikely to catch on because it needs number crunching in the backend to apportion the excess votes to (hopefully) improve proportionality. I can see it being accused of corruption by the fact and critical-thinking challenged demographic.
Baden-Württemberg solves that by saying that every riding has two members, one who wins the popular vote, and one who is selected from the runners-up in a manner that best enhances proportionality, but still focuses on the high vote earners.
Mixed member proportional representation (MMR) is too easily gamed by parties to embed unelectable party hacks/loyalists (as experienced in NZ). </Quote>
I won’t argue against your pessimistic views on life and humanity; I too sometimes think that way. It can be somewhat comforting, maybe in a bit of a twisted way, but it can make us feel a bit better. But I will say that it’s not helpful to others and yourself to keep thinking like so, about how a lot of people just seem too stupid, or that they are born into stupidity and are thus conditioned into thinking that stupidity is the norm, and that there is not real progress.
Real progress is being made, even now, despite all the chaos that we know of. The fact that people can talk about these problems, internationally and openly, despite some threats from those who despise it, is unthinkable 70 years ago, or even 100 years ago, and further. If that’s not progress, I don’t know what is.
History is repeating itself, but it’s not without its differences and variations.
And despair isn’t the end. Where there is despair, there is hope.
While I’m somewhat dejected that I can’t convince you to open up, I hope it becomes part of what you would think about again in the future.
Best wishes there
I didn’t mean to emphasize stupid in any way. I think rejection of the current system was inevitable but they fall for lies that are allowed to go unchallenged in a meaningful way. I don’t have a problem with optimism but I think ignoring the realities of the end game do us no favours. I would prefer a mix of the two with proper representation of a plan to survive what will come. Lets hope electoral reform actually happens in a way that truly serves the people and not the party. Thanks for your thoughts on all this.
I share your hope that electoral reform serves people rather than parties - that’s exactly why proportional representation matters.
Our current system lets parties govern with minority support (like the Ontario PCs with just 43% of votes). Under PR, this couldn’t happen - governments would need to build genuine consensus, creating more stable policies rather than the constant lurching we see now.
The “plan to survive what will come” should include electoral systems that force cooperation and long-term thinking, rather than empowering parties to implement policies most voters oppose.
A better democracy isn’t just possible - it’s already working in democracies around the world.