It's SCTV
There is a thing happening here in the political wilds of BC. It's known as STV (Single Transferable Vote). I think it would be more apt to refer to it as SCTV, as a reflection of the late lamented TV show that in its satirical profundity almost invariably put SNL to shame. SCTV was inspired lunacy. STV is lunacy, too, but perhaps not so inspired. Mainly just plain lunacy.
In May British Columbians go to the polls and on voting day will decide to either leave the current knaves in power (my hope), or replace them with the tired old left-wing knaves who came pretty close to destroying the province their last time around. But, partisan politics are not the issue here. What is at issues is that on that day, voters in BC will decide if they want to keep the old system of voting, or opt for a system that is to be noted for the fact that absolutely nobody understands it. It is a system that is much lauded by certain academic sorts -- a fact that should send most people running away in terror -- and certain fringe area elements of society who would only stand to ever be elected in some sort of Salvador Dali constituency.
The idea behind the push for STV (or SCTV) is that the current system isn't especially democratic. Ya think? Of course it isn't democratic. A general mark of democratic systems world wide is that the term 'democracy' is played with as fast-and-loose as the term 'virginity', and democracy is way less fun. But, as Churchill said, it is still the best of all bad systems, so I guess we have to live with that.
In any case, since nobody understands a system in which you get to vote not only for your first choice of rascal, but also your second, and maybe even your third, the chance of this nonsense coming into being is minuscule. Anyway, most of us hold our noses, make a last trip to the bathroom (just to do something productive), and mark an X just to make a first choice. Who on earth would have a second choice? I mean, this isn't the Oscars, where if Johnny Depp doesn't win, you can easily live with a win by Sean Penn. I vote for my guy or girl to keep the other guy or girl out, not so I can lean over to them as some sort of an also-ran. Are there those who voted for George Bush who would have leaned in the direction of, say, Nader as a second choice? Hardly. Politics is a dirty and corrupt business, and it should be kept that way.
In May British Columbians go to the polls and on voting day will decide to either leave the current knaves in power (my hope), or replace them with the tired old left-wing knaves who came pretty close to destroying the province their last time around. But, partisan politics are not the issue here. What is at issues is that on that day, voters in BC will decide if they want to keep the old system of voting, or opt for a system that is to be noted for the fact that absolutely nobody understands it. It is a system that is much lauded by certain academic sorts -- a fact that should send most people running away in terror -- and certain fringe area elements of society who would only stand to ever be elected in some sort of Salvador Dali constituency.
The idea behind the push for STV (or SCTV) is that the current system isn't especially democratic. Ya think? Of course it isn't democratic. A general mark of democratic systems world wide is that the term 'democracy' is played with as fast-and-loose as the term 'virginity', and democracy is way less fun. But, as Churchill said, it is still the best of all bad systems, so I guess we have to live with that.
In any case, since nobody understands a system in which you get to vote not only for your first choice of rascal, but also your second, and maybe even your third, the chance of this nonsense coming into being is minuscule. Anyway, most of us hold our noses, make a last trip to the bathroom (just to do something productive), and mark an X just to make a first choice. Who on earth would have a second choice? I mean, this isn't the Oscars, where if Johnny Depp doesn't win, you can easily live with a win by Sean Penn. I vote for my guy or girl to keep the other guy or girl out, not so I can lean over to them as some sort of an also-ran. Are there those who voted for George Bush who would have leaned in the direction of, say, Nader as a second choice? Hardly. Politics is a dirty and corrupt business, and it should be kept that way.
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