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News: Without Electoral College, we'd have 'Hunger Games'
Member Since: 1/4/2014
Posts: 6,751
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Without Electoral College, we'd have 'Hunger Games'
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/c...n.html?ref=yfp
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mericans are so sick of politics right now that merely mentioning a phrase like "let's get rid of the Electoral College" might compel some to stick pins in their eyes.
Please! Don't harm yourselves! Besides, eye stabbing is just too darn chock-full of drama.
So what if I threw in a version of an American future without the Electoral College just to liven things up a bit?
Think of an America with happy, prosperous people living on the East and West coasts, a people secure with great educations, manners, entertainments, wealth. And amenities that come with such a cool future, like driverless cars, humanoid robots and unlimited data directly transmitted to chips embedded in your skulls.
And what of the "heartland," which politicians privately call "flyover country" but which you and I still call the Midwest?
"Hunger Games."
Gaunt faces, old clothes, bleak horizons. A giant electrified fence stretching across what were once called "states" but are now called "districts." And each district ruled by a governor appointed by the president.
And great mud holes where the Great Lakes used to be, and skinny teenagers hunting critters with bow and arrow to put meat on the table.
Is that possible? Probably not.
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President Snow's impact! 
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...but when people ask me "what do you think?" I'm inclined to tell them, and often they're displeased.
There is merit to the idea of a popular vote for president. It would certainly be efficient and speedy, especially with our advanced technology. The problem is that in some things I opt for inefficient and slow. Yeah, I'm weird like that.
I'm not even a big fan of early voting. I figure that if voting is actually important to you, then you'll get up on Election Day and get your butt down to the polling place and cast a ballot in person.
Still, if we got rid of the Electoral College, think of the shape of things to come. Soon after, we could have immediate national referendums on almost every important issue. And depending on America's mood, we could swing quickly, one way or another, this way and then back again.
We wouldn't need a House of Representatives or a Senate. Legislation takes too long. The president could appoint governing bureaucrats who would move with great speed. States wouldn't count for much, if anything. They'd disappear eventually, as would the idea that the people of Kentucky might see things differently than the people of New York.
The populated coasts would become supreme. And if California got passionate and wanted Great Lakes water, we'd have a quick national vote on it. Bingo. A pipeline to drain the lakes, and it's done.
We'd have real democracy for a change. And the majority would rule. And that ancient experiment called a republic, designed to be inefficient and slow, to protect the minority view?
Who'd want that anyway?
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Like I tell people in other threads...without the electoral college all of the political power would consolidate to the larger cities on the coasts, leaving the rural areas, the poor, and minorities of the US with no voice.
Love live the Republic! 
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Member Since: 8/19/2013
Posts: 28,773
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**** those assholes in the smaller states. They gave us the Iraq war now they're giving us Trump. We've already been failed by this system and it was not pretty. If they don't do something about this, these pissed off huge liberal states are ready to secede.
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Member Since: 1/4/2014
Posts: 31,029
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Yea, cuz that is what happens in every other democratic country. They have hunger games. Do Americans think they are the only ones that vote for their leaders? They're just the only ones that agree to have their votes dismissed 
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Member Since: 8/7/2015
Posts: 10,527
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Well, at least we see evidence that Trump's election has further emboldened blatant ignorance
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Member Since: 8/18/2013
Posts: 14,905
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Originally posted by ShouldersSideways
Well, at least we see evidence that Trump's election has further emboldened blatant ignorance
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Member Since: 9/8/2012
Posts: 10,084
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Hunger Gamess endless impact tho 
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Member Since: 8/7/2015
Posts: 2,318
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Loves it.
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Member Since: 1/4/2014
Posts: 6,751
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Originally posted by Ecstasy
Yea, cuz that is what happens in every other democratic country. They have hunger games. Do Americans think they are the only ones that vote for their leaders? They're just the only ones that agree to have their votes dismissed |
No...in the US, "states rights" matter...as the article implied, the without the electoral college the states power would all but disappear giving way to mass national mandates that would only benefit the rich populated powerful cities. 
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Member Since: 3/15/2013
Posts: 6,659
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What even...
I TRIED to read the OP and see the perspective after the dumbass headline but I'm left even more puzzled.
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Member Since: 8/7/2015
Posts: 3,830
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Quote:
Originally posted by ShouldersSideways
Well, at least we see evidence that Trump's election has further emboldened blatant ignorance
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This tea.
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Member Since: 8/7/2015
Posts: 1,082
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What about other countries that don't follow America's political model? What do they consider those people?
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Member Since: 1/4/2014
Posts: 6,751
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Quote:
Originally posted by ShouldersSideways
Well, at least we see evidence that Trump's election has further emboldened blatant ignorance
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Blatant ignorance? What is so hard to understand....if the US didn't have an electoral college the population centers of Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco could all conspire to take things from a less populated state like Montana, without the people of Montana's consent: their water, trees for lumber, or their minerals....or take West Virgina's coal...or Alaska's oil...or Kansas farmland all because they have more people to outvote the more rural areas.
You'd have a greater # of haves, and have nots without the electoral college. 
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Member Since: 4/6/2014
Posts: 9,220
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Uh no. The people would get the president they voted for. The author of that sounds like an idiot.
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Member Since: 1/4/2014
Posts: 6,751
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Originally posted by Can't_M!ss_This
Uh no. The people would get the president they voted for. The author of that sounds like an idiot.
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No...Los Angeles, and New York City would get the president they wanted.
Political candidates would only focus on large cities because of their greater population.
That's not democracy, either.
The electoral college works...
...democracy wins.
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Member Since: 8/31/2013
Posts: 6,189
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Gaunt faces, old clothes, bleak horizons.
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So a bit similar to now?
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Member Since: 8/19/2013
Posts: 21,389
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Y'all better find your Katniss Everdeen then
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Member Since: 1/4/2014
Posts: 6,751
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Originally posted by Khal
So a bit similar to now?
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Y'all have no idea what bleak is...think America is so bad, go live in Haiti, the Sudan, or Syria for a week...you'd be scratching and clawing to get back to the US. 
As for the Hunger Games example...you'd have powerful districts (the cities = The Capital/Districts 1, 2, 3 & 4) taking stuff away from the poorer ones (the rural areas = Districts 12,11,10 ect)
Texas would be District 13. 
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Member Since: 1/6/2014
Posts: 21,185
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Quote:
Originally posted by RihsusChrist(ATG)
Y'all have no idea what bleak is...think America is so bad, go live in Haiti, the Sudan, or Syria for a week...you'd be scratching and clawing to get back to the US.
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Oh, the "I have a ****** life, but there is people with worse lifes than me, even though this is an endless chain, I should accept what I have instead of complaining, after all, things could be worse lol!"-logic.
A mess
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Member Since: 1/4/2014
Posts: 6,751
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Quote:
Originally posted by Theus
Oh, the "I have a ****** life, but there is people with worse lifes than me, even though this is an endless chain, I should accept what I have instead of complaining, after all, things could be worse lol!"-logic.
A mess
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In America though, you have a choice to "have a ****** life"...in those other countries I mentioned, not so much. 
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Member Since: 5/27/2016
Posts: 1,913
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Federalism is the future 
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