Have I got a deal for you.
I have a brand new Model T Ford from 1917 that you can have to drive to work in the winter in rush hour on the freeway. Not so sure?
OK. Fine. How about this?
I will replace all your appliances with new ones from 1967. Worried about getting replacement parts when they break down? Worried about the massive increase in your electric bill?
Boy are you picky! Then perhaps something else...
I will offer your kids a complete college education where the entire curriculum is from 1992. Sure it’s only three years into the Internet revolution and they will miss out on a few important scientific and historical advances, but it is free after all.
I’m willing to bet that most Americans wouldn’t be thrilled with any of these offers, much less be happy if they were forced upon them.
No-one wants auto technology that is 100 years old, household technology that is 50 years old, or an education that is 25 years old, and yet we wake up every day, secure in the knowledge that we are governed by "community technology" that is 241 years old. This shouldn’t comfort you, it should scare the bejesus out of you.
If you want to know why we have the political problems we have: gridlock, division, and an entire populace feeling unhappy about it all, maybe you should ask yourself why we allow ourselves to be governed by a system that hasn’t changed in almost 250 years. There is no other facet of American life that has changed so little and no other where there is more dissatisfaction. I don’t believe this is merely correlative but causational.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting we dump democracy. I’m not willing to throw the baby out with the bathwater and I do agree with Churchill. However, the “technology” by which we implement our government has got to go. One simple example would be to eliminate First Pass The Post elections with Single Transferable Vote. This would virtually guarantee that a larger number of people would have a representative that shares their views. People would start to feel confidence in their government again, would start to feel like they actually do have a voice beyond checking a box for someone they really don’t feel all that good about checking it for. And this is just one small idea; I have no doubt there are others.
It’s time we start innovating in the country again, and we should start with our government.
[Please look at this excellent video describing Single Transferable Vote]
