Why Winner-Take-All(WTA) Elections are Sociocidal
Bringing in Proportionate Representation (PR) is long over due and must be a top priority for the Carney government.
“Given the serious democratic shortcomings of WTA elections, it is not surprising that most major Western countries have moved on to more modern voting systems. Only the U.S., Great Britain, Canada, and France still cling to WTA voting systems. All the others use variations of a different voting system: proportional representation”. Read more here
Preface
If I was writing this blog five years ago I wouldn’t have included the word “sociocidal” in the title, but a lot has changed in Fortress North America where I have lived my life. Into many ways we have become a ghetto of too many ruinous ideologies, bad government and seriously decayed democracy. Politicians don’t have much respect for democracy as it is a ideology requiring some discipline, a respect for process and some consideration for the consequences of their actions and policies. Their loyalties have switched to self-serving indulgences, obedience to lobbyists and the vested- interests controlling them. Thus leaving their populations on the short end of the stick.
It is also of concern that governance-how we govern ourselves- hasn’t changed much since the 19th Century!
If I had written this 40 years ago I wouldn’t be so concerned as corporate power was ascendant: but after forty years of neoliberalism corporate power has become absolute and fragmented our societies. It has proven to be the ideology, like imperialism, militarism and a few others, nobody wants to talk about, even though it has fragmented our societies. It goes beyond being an ideology as it forms the frame work of our societies where rights, values, institutions have been crushed and abandoned. Neoliberalism might be defined as a societal white wash.
Had I written this 60 years ago I was not aware I was born into the age of forever wars where trillions of dollars would be pissed away, millions of lives lost and retired war criminals would walk the streets.
Eighty years ago I wasn’t quite ready to read and write. Little did I know I was to have a front-row seat to witness the rise and fall of an empire. It rose, shielded from the public by the triumphalism of peace at last, the affluent society, and the essential propaganda. Now, it has fallen as empires always do.
Now begins the age of self-inflicted reparations, with democracy first in line as the means by which we govern ourselves, and elections as its keystone.
Justin Trudeau regrets his failure to bring in PR. At the time I was angered; but in hindsight I am glad he didn’t undertake it. He would have made a mess of it and brought in something really stupid like the ranked ballot. Bringing in proper bonafide PR is the only worthy accomplishment as his hapless Liberal party has been promising for a hundred years. His father was all for it — as he was leaving office, but had notable accomplishments to his credit.
The younger Trudeau was more a tune to legalizing pot, establishing his feminist credentials and sponsoring junkets to India. He was the ineffectual pretender to the throne and his caucus was along for the free ride.
Still there is another reason he didn’t bring it in. He is a closet neoliberal. His father was our last Liberal PM, all those to follow were and are neoliberal. To bring in PR would offend his neoliberal masters as the last thing they want is Canada, or any other country, re-democratized.
Especially so, when a stated goal of neoliberalism is the denigration of government where the market place and the oligarchs rule, and government is in corporate capture.
Given how pervasive and deeply rooted neoliberalism is in our times there are serious concerns about Carney’s neoliberal tendencies. At the same time his experience in banking and economics is invaluable. As a politician he must tune his skills to running the country.
We, the public, have an obligation to force neoliberalism into the public realm, forcing the necessary scrutiny that is long over due. The biggest obstruction is the mainstream media, which is subsidized by government, and as Bill Moyers has observed they run a “mutual protection racket.” Words like“neoliberalism, empire, colonialism” are taboo words are rarely mentioned by the media. They can only exist in secrecy, indifference, and deception.
Upper and Lower Canada
To our national shame Canada has essentially the same template it did in 1837. Our borders have expanded, our visions and definitions have not. We are a nation haunted by our colonial roots. Over too many years we have transitioned from a British colony to an American colony and our propensity for colonization appears habitual.
1837 was a significant year as at it saw a rebellion against the Family Compact…. which was an autocratic group of business leaders who ran the colony to their liking—and there are still vestiges of the Family Compact present as the power and population is concentrated in Ontario and Quebec. Federal elections are decided by the time results are in at the Manitoba/Ontario border largely because of the corrupt Winner Take All/ First Past The Post system, which has always favored the Liberals at the expense of the West and everybody else. There is in a very real sense an“inner” and “outer”Canada where western Canada is just a “suburb” to the east.
Since WW ll the US has pursued empire. Canada has complacently settled for colonization. Now Canada has to decide if it is going to continue as colony to a failed empire. PR is a first essential step in reclaiming our democracy and independence.
It’s worth asking why the Conservatives remain silent on the issue of proportional representation (PR). Under the first-past-the-post (FPTP) system, they often win the popular vote but fail to secure enough seats to form government. Their origins trace back to the Reform Party, which emerged from western alienation—an alienation now fueling Alberta’s threats to leave Confederation. Under PR every vote counts. It helps level the playing field giving the west a much stronger voice in Ottawa.
The CPC led by Pierre Poilievre is a party of questionable Canadian credentials. It has no Canadian vision, suffers from fake populism, and is rigidly doctrinaire. It is worth noting that PP has no less than seven paid lobbyists on his parties national council.
Canada and the US have a few things in common. Only one of which is the political parties have for too long put their own self-interest ahead of the public interest. Most profoundly Americans must extricate themselves and their Republic from a dying parasitic empire that is pulling them under. Canada, as a colony, and many other countries (namely 30 other NATO member states) must also decolonize to save our futures.
The costs of war and empire are destroying the West en masse. For Fortress North America there are no enemies on foreign shores. We have become our own worst enemy.
Progress begins with contrition and reform.
The road back is long and arduous, one step at a time. How we vote matters more than ever.
What do you think?
History’s Parrot is read in 38 US States and 55 countries world wide.
The (severe) problem with prop-rep is that it is more un-democratic in that it pushes consensus-forming away from its roots at the local level and onto the floor of the legislature. This also relates to a total lack of a social structure in these large nations.
Why not do the simple task of fixing the actual problems in FPTP? Which are: voting blind (in contrast to a consensus decision by a local town hall) and voting on emotion rather than reason, in the “retribution booth.” The simplest fix is as done now in many countries, you have a run-off election among the top candidates until you get a majority for that candidate. This also alleviates the “voting blind” issue as people get a second chance to look at their (important) decision. But certain actors strenuously maintain the need to “vote blind.”
Our Voting System - First Past the Post - Always Leads to Two Party Rule, Here's How to Fix This: https://old.bitchute.com/video/f8Oe0HK6FJ45 [10mins]