Are you a normal person?
I ask not because I’m writing a blog questioning what is normal, but because I’m wondering why normal people put up with this insanity we call representative democracy.
Yes, I did refer to our system as insane and if you break it down, it isn’t too hard to see how crazy it really is. We have people we send to some distant building that represents a better version of the Parthenon (complete with a big statue of Athena) in order to direct the money that the machine confiscates from us every paycheck (or every quarter).
The problem is, representation does not cover only the people who are robbed by the IRS. If it did, I doubt there would be much in the way of robbery (OK, I know they call it taxation, but that sounds too politically correct for me). No, the House of Representatives currently represent roughly 700,000 people each. For Senators, that ratio is much worse, though it depends on the state they represent.
So basically, in less than two weeks, American voters are going to select someone who represents their interests. But 700,000 people can’t possibly be adequately represented since that’s 700,000 different opinions on thousands of varying issues. Statistically, the House of Representatives is about as bad a sample as a polling data.
My point is that with such a high ratio of representation, do you honestly believe that your selection will really fall in line with your personal convictions and ideals?
I don’t believe that for a second. Choosing the best candidate in a selection of dog turds will ultimately leave you smelling dog turd everywhere. This is not to say that there are some people who are worth voting, especially since there is always the chance that someone will completely agree with you.
Another aspect of this is that single person cannot adequately represent so many people, no matter how intelligent he or she is. This is why there are lobby groups who constantly send ‘donations’ to their representatives in order to get them to represent them. In most cases, lobby groups are just a vehicle to promote one agenda or another in opposition to the will of the constituents. If they weren’t, why would they be lobbying in the first place?
When the Articles of Confederation were overturned, the new system seemed sound. After all, it gave everyone representation. But people had representation in their local and state governments. The Articles of Confederation merely allowed each state to send representatives of their own in order to resolve interstate issues. Think of it as the modern UN, only with a much sharper focus and not so much focus on communism and anti-Semitism.
Still, that’s all well and gone now. I think that being an anti-Statist, I can safely say that every regular person would benefit from much less government because they would be able to better manage their own lives. And really, that’s how we were originally intended to live in the first place.