Checksum Arcanius

This is another blog that started out as a comment on someone else’s blog, and grew out of control. But thats why we have pingbacks.

In a comment on this post on Instant Runoff Voting on Colorless Green Ideas, It seems to me that the “clumsiness” as Adam sees it is elegance as I see it. With IRV, a candidate can never win without a true plurality. If plurality is not reached in the first round, the only the lowest candidate is released, and the votes that went to that candidate are distributed among the second choices of the people who voted for the eliminated candidate as first choice. Its an elegant way to replace the primary and elect people that more closely reflect what the people want, rather than what the people aren’t as afraid of.

I’d like to see IRV in action in one state (why not mine), just to see how it works. Fortunately, people in other states, such as Adam in Kansas, can see how it works for us without actually risking anything themselves. Thats why we need more power to the states and power almost eliminated from the feds – this way, states can experiment with new ideas, and many fewer people get screwed over when a bad idea comes along.

Take universal healthcare, for example. Lets pretend I’m wrong (since that is as close to me being wrong ont his one as you will ever come), and univeral healthcare is one of the best ideas ever. Then some state (say, Kansas) implements it. When everything goes really well (since its a pretend good idea) all the other states will see the light, and take steps to implement a similar system.

However, if if its kept at the federal level, then when the more “progressive” party finally gets their agenda across (I think its only a matter of time), the entire nation will be screwed over at once with very little recourse (ie, I can’t just move out of state to avoid being screwed over by a rapidly degrading healthcare system).

Lets give IRV a chance. Lets give state rights a chance. Instead of advocating national socialized healthcare, do it at a state level. Observe its utter failure at that level. Move on to better things. The most destructive and scariest event in this day and age is the concentration of power in the other Washington (DC), something which, no matter your party affliation or belief system, I think you need to fight against. Implement your progressive or conservative or liberal or socialist or facist or communist ideas in your own state, thank you very much. The only party that wants to give you that right, that responsibility, that power is the Libertarian party at the national level. Let your state govern as the people there see fit, not as the people across the country see fit. Thats what America is supposed to be about.

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