From: Seth G. <sga...@li...> - 2001-03-24 16:50:22
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On Sat, 24 Mar 2001, Jeff Teunissen wrote: > > It's a good strategy, not wasting your time with the semi-humans in > > our nation's decadent centers of civilization, but it's not how he became > > president :-) > > G. W. Bush won the popular vote. Yes, but winning the popular vote cannot make you the president. Winning the electoral votes is the USUAL strategy, and he could have gotten the majority of electoral votes if there was no intervention, but there WAS intervention, which I think puts a nice ironic twist on the longest contest between two lame guys with nothing to say that the American TV audience has ever been forced to endure :-) G.W.s margin of victory was not statistically significant. He had about 0.5% more popular votes (compared to 4% of the vote going to 3rd parties, including at least one candiate who probably just wanted to steal votes from the Democrats :-) and maybe 2% more electoral votes (we'll never know for sure) Each vote counts, but a single anonymous vote among tens of millions for both canditates, by itself, does not count any more than a single electron matters when you light a match. Considering how many people are going to change their mind about which of the two corpor.. er, parties to support on a given day, there is a certain element of uncertainty. None of the SYSTEMS (Supreme Court, Electoral College, Popular Vote) would have produced different results. All of them re-inforced the idea that both candidates were equally qualified for the position. This is why I don't refer to any particular SYSTEM when I use the word Democracy. Systems are important, but they are also infinitely variable - many different systems can be set up to accomplish the same goals. The only definition of democracy that does not contradict another definition of democracy is the only definition that is not a system. This definition refers to the distribution of power in a society. All of the systems that are called democracy seem to be designed to create a society of equals, but since they are just systems they can easily be adapted to concentrating power in any pattern. A wheel and axle is a system designed to make work easier for people. A certain implementation of the system allows a man to move great loads long distances. But it is easy to design a wheel and axle system that is a burden - a heavy wagon you have to drag up hills, and a dangerously uncontrollable roller coaster going back down. __ __ _ _ __ __ _/ \__/ \__/ Seth Galbraith "The Serpent Lord" \__/ \__/ \_ \__/ \__/ \_ sga...@kr... #2244199 on ICQ _/ \__/ \__/ _/ \__/ \__/ http://www.planetquake.com/gg \__/ \__/ \_ |