Far fetched fantasy story (1 Viewer)

ColinEssex

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Imagine a hypothetical country, very large, loads of people - say 300 million.

Anyway, these people are perfectly normal (or what they conceive to be normal), they believe in God on Sunday's, they love to fight wars, they love to kill living things and watch them die in agony, they hate colours especially black - except when on holiday. Then they wear brightly coloured shirts and speak loudly as if everyone is deaf, as long as they are noticed they are happy.

They have strict morals that they ignore, they are mostly polite and carry guns because they think wrongly it will boost their ego.they think other countries like them, but if that's what they think then so be it.

They have a good justice system where 12 people vote on someone being guilty or not, the highest vote wins. They are very democratic, if decisions need to be made they (the people) or a committee vote and the highest count gets implemented or whatever.

Every few years, they have an election to vote in a new president. The people all vote for who they want to be president and the one with the lowest count gets in as president, the rest of the world is stunned that the least experienced and one with fewest votes who is a total lunatic gets elected. The rest of the world is wondering when WW3 will start.

Isn't that a funny story? Thank goodness it's fantasy.

Col
 
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sneuberg

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Maybe in this fantasy land the total lunatic get hobbled by the bureaucracy, can't implement any nutty ideas, and the people live a while longer. Or at least it seems longer.
 

Steve R.

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Every few years, they have an election to vote in a new president. The people all vote for who they want to be president and the one with the lowest count gets in as president, the rest of the world is stunned that the least experienced and one with fewest votes who is a total lunatic gets elected.
Snow White had the lowest popular vote count (of the top four candidates) and had little experience in governing. So how come she is not being sworn in as President?:confused:
 
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The_Doc_Man

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I believe I have been to this fantasy land, but you got the details wrong.

They carry guns for other reasons than you noted.

Their juries don't work on simple majority; for a 12-person jury, they require at least 10 "guilty" votes to convict; and for some important cases, they require unanimity.

They AREN'T democratic in the strict sense; their votes are regionally weighted to level out the influence of regions of high population density, that in a pure democracy would suck up ALL the resources and leave none for impoverished rural areas.

As to "ignoring strict morals," that's ANOTHER case of a bad dream, because the ones with strict morals incorrectly believe they have the right to dictate those morals to folks who don't follow the same belief system.

I have my own dream, sometimes, in which people intelligent enough to make inanimate objects do their bidding would somehow also be astute enough to understand the many-faceted aspects of life in this fantasy world. Unfortunately, when I wake up, I find this to also be just a dream.
 

ColinEssex

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Yes Doc, you are right, they carry guns because they are petrified of being mugged/robbed or killed. Then they can satisfy their bloodlust and kill without a thought.

Can I point out that 10 votes to 2 constitutes a majority, therefore, the highest votes win, not the lowest. In this airy fairy land it should be the lowest count is the verdict.

I'm not talking about resources, I'm talking about votes by the people. In this fantasy story, the candidate for presidency with the lower number of votes from the populace got in. Flower it up and fiddle the figures as much as you like, that is a fact in this story.

Col
 

scott-atkinson

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None of us no the end of this fairy tale, whether it will be villainous or a force for good, but it will be interesting reading all the same..

I heard, it's being translated into Mexican, complete with a Pop Up wall centrefold..
 

kevlray

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As an US citizen, I was very torn on this election to know who to vote for president (Not that it would have made a beans worth of difference in California). To me, both candidates were bad choices. The only hope we have with Trump, is that since he is not a government politician, he could possibly radically change how the US government works (which could be good, but could go bad).
 

Vassago

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That's a decent story, I have a better one.

There once was a forum for Access help that was not only a leader in providing technical assistance, but where the members would congregate and enjoy themselves to pass the time. People respected each other regardless of nationality, religion, or political affiliation, as we all knew there was no point in those topics here. There dozens of posts a day in the non-technical forums from people just having a good time.

I can't imagine who would want to ruin a place like that. I would greatly miss those days.
 

ColinEssex

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That's a decent story, I have a better one.

There once was a forum for Access help that was not only a leader in providing technical assistance, but where the members would congregate and enjoy themselves to pass the time. People respected each other regardless of nationality, religion, or political affiliation, as we all knew there was no point in those topics here. There dozens of posts a day in the non-technical forums from people just having a good time.

I can't imagine who would want to ruin a place like that. I would greatly miss those days.

Those days are long gone now Vas. These days if one makes a post, one is called a troll and what is a valid post is yet again lost in the mists after all the sniping and backbiting. Personal attacks are now the norm here.

It's not worth the bother any more.

Col
 

Brianwarnock

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They AREN'T democratic in the strict sense; their votes are regionally weighted to level out the influence of regions of high population density, that in a pure democracy would suck up ALL the resources and leave none for impoverished rural areas.

.

that's an interesting statement Doc, one which my old grey matter is struggling with, although I think I have a glimmer of what you are saying.
is the weighting altered when circumstances change, such as a population shift.

Brian
 

kevlray

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In the strict sense US is a republic (according to my Political Science teacher). With that, the founders tried to even out the playing field (with the Senate and the House). Originally you had to be a land owner, male and white to vote.
 

Vassago

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that's an interesting statement Doc, one which my old grey matter is struggling with, although I think I have a glimmer of what you are saying.
is the weighting altered when circumstances change, such as a population shift.

Brian

That is exactly the problem. I don't believe we have done enough to shift the electoral votes based on population changes. If anything, electoral votes should be percentage based or at least split along Congressional districts in more states.
 

kevlray

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It is interesting that when the US was formed. For the most part the nation was rural. Only a few 'large' cities existed, nothing like we have today. Politics in California are mostly swayed by the two largest cities (and suburbs) in California (Los Angeles and San Francisco). There is plenty of rural areas in California, but the rural population does not equal the urban population.
 

Vassago

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It is interesting that when the US was formed. For the most part the nation was rural. Only a few 'large' cities existed, nothing like we have today. Politics in California are mostly swayed by the two largest cities (and suburbs) in California (Los Angeles and San Francisco). There is plenty of rural areas in California, but the rural population does not equal the urban population.

Not by a long shot. And why should the rural areas have a higher vote than the urban areas simply because the land mass is larger? One of the biggest complaints I see about having a popular vote based election is that the biggest cities would decide who wins. Do we not have the same problem with Electoral based systems? What do people think "swing" States are? If you don't live in one, your vote is relatively useless.
 

NauticalGent

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...your vote is relatively useless.

There is no "relatively" about it. Do not delude yourselves into thinking your votes EVER mattered and that this election didn't go down precisely like it was supposed to.

We have been had...the plug was pulled on the great American Experiment decades ago. As much as I dis-like him, Col's signature says it all...
 

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