Monday, June 17, 2024

Writing - Also a prophet

 Not only a clever scientist but a prophet as well. So history is being repeated - we need a Robin Hood.



Albert Einstein warned in 1949 the time would come when the rich would control the means of communication, making it impossible for ordinary people to make informed decisions.

This is a largely accurate summary of an article written by Einstein.
In the inaugural May 1949 edition of the magazine Monthly Review, Einstein argued that private capital “tends to become concentrated in few hands”, resulting in “an oligarchy of private capital the enormous power of which cannot be effectively checked even by a democratically organized political society”.
“Moreover, under existing conditions, private capitalists inevitably control, directly or indirectly, the main sources of information (press, radio, education).
“It is thus extremely difficult, and indeed in most cases quite impossible, for the individual citizen to come to objective conclusions and to make intelligent use of his political rights.”

The above facts bring up the validity of the first past the post electoral system or rather the alternative - proportional representation.

Proportional representation is an electoral system in which the distribution of seats corresponds closely with the proportion of the total votes cast for each party. For example, if a party gained 40% of the total votes, a perfectly proportional system would allow them to gain 40% of the seats. 

Our current system has created the short-termism we suffer from resulting in a short-sighted constantly changing set of policies that benefit one or another party rather than the populace of the country. It also means that once a candidate achieves enough votes to get elected all other additional votes are wasted. It also serves the attitude that causes some people not to vote because they believe their votes don't matter. 

We need PR 

God Bless 



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