I am always surprised how minorities do not stand up for voting reform. Really? What is there not clear about the term Winner-Take-All? Minorities must be in the majority to win a seat. That is obviously extremely clear language. Minorities not wanting to change the voting system is like saying the odds are just fine — we’ll take it — minorities get plenty to say in our system — we don’t need anything better, it’s great right now.
Racism is the result of many factors, yet racism is supported by the voting mechanism that actively suppresses minority representation.
The only representatives we have in our voting system are picked by the majority. Never, ever was a minority picked, because the win always goes to the majority. Minorities (of whatever kind) are represented only when that specific minority forms a majority in a district. I hope you see how backwards that is. We have to push ourselves through Red or Blue to be heard (whichever one is receptive to us, which can in the end also be neither).
Racism is actively expressed in our system, and our 18th century system promotes racism. It actively puts voters against voters for the win.
Of course competition is fine among the candidates, but when the voters have to compete among themselves something is really off. Folks start to group themselves as one group and set themselves against another (sometimes imaginary) group.
There is for instance no White Group because that word is meaningless in the larger context. To declare some group the White Group means a self-assigned designation of a (smaller) group opposing the White Group. We turn ourselves into a group and share what is wrong with the ‘other’ group.
That is how divide and conquer works. Labels are used that are not very smart because our voting system is not very smart. We stoop to the level of power, which is a knee-high democracy, not the full color version other nations enjoy. We don't embrace the truth because spin is more powerful in our system than the truth. We lull ourselves to sleep so we can dream big. But that is not how the world gets changed. The world is run by systems, and there are better ones out there that we can have.
Talking about spin. Did you know that the winner in our elections is always the Losing Party? It sounds weird, but it is actually true.
https://medium.com/the-national-discussion/and-the-winner-is-the-losing-party-c683c1d739e5
Do those in power abuse their power? Yes, that can happen, and each instance should be a lesson learned so we don't repeat it. In reality: much repetition is found in place.
If we don't change the 18th century system, then we are just going to keep competing with one another, pushing 'others' down so 'we' can rise. It is time for the USA 2.0 upgrade so we can break down the us against them mentality that is found in many places.
And it is actually easy. The US Constitution is already okay with proportional voting for cities and counties, and the 14th Amendment seems to be asking that the better system is put in place by governments anyways. I hope I don't have to explain that proportional voting is the better system. We got so little education about any other form of democracy; many folks repeat the Red and Blue party mantra that we are the best. Well, that's the jail of spin we need to get out of. We need to follow the truth.
At the local level, from the ground up, we can work for getting a new democracy. Start voting for non-Machine candidates that embrace voting reform, and it is actually not that complicated. Today, we have a one-party system throughout the United States at the local level (and some states) with all seats very often going to a single party. What better proof that minorities do not receive seats in this crummy old system.
In San Francisco, one in six voters voted for W. Bush in 2004. But all members on the board are registered Democrats. No one else can get a seat; it is the system that pushes this minority into oblivion. When in the nineties the Green Party appeared to make inroads in this blue city due to the at-large system then in place (it being semi-proportional), the Machine changed it back to district voting. Green Party is gone today, folks, no Republicans either. All is just the way 'we' blue folks like it. Don’t like it? Git, git, git. Move away.
If we want a decent nation, we must make it a decent nation. We need the USA 2.0 upgrade to turn this into a real democracy. Join the movement at the local level, actively vote for and promote candidates that want voter reform. Just Mom in all the seats of the House, or just Dad in all the seats of the House really means we're in a jail of spin where all is just fine. Truth be told, we cannot emancipate in this 18th century system.
