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Re:The Revolution Against the Revolution: Looking Back on Sh... by ameister14 on Thursday August 16, 2018 @10:42AM (#17774999)
It might be how you want a democracy to work, but it's not entirely how you want a Republic to work.
Re:The Revolution Against the Revolution: Looking Back on Sh... by TulliusCicero on Thursday August 16, 2018 @12:50PM (#17776342)
Yes, it depends on what you feel is the fundamental component of American society: the person, or the parcel of land.
Re:The Revolution Against the Revolution: Looking Back on Sh... by ameister14 on Thursday August 16, 2018 @12:51PM (#17776356)
No, it doesn't. We have checks on the power of the majority in a Republic because the majority doesn't always think long term and it's easy to get a populist leader that splits the country apart.
Re:The Revolution Against the Revolution: Looking Back on Sh... by TulliusCicero on Thursday August 16, 2018 @01:13PM (#17776561)
Yeah, those checks are things like the judicial branch, separation of powers, periodic (and particularly in the case of the Senate, infrequent) voting, and the Constitution being difficult to amend. Giving special power to one type of minority is unnecessary and subverts the general will of the people.

If we had a legislative house for white people and another for black people, would that be a good idea because hey, that white majority doesn't always think long term? Again, there's no reasonable justification for why it should be that geographic minorities get extra political power.

Re:The Revolution Against the Revolution: Looking Back on Sh... by stale2002 on Thursday August 16, 2018 @01:46PM (#17776935)
> If we had a legislative house for white people and another for black people, would that be a good idea because hey, that white majority doesn't always think long term?

I mean, maybe. What year are we talking about here?

Perhaps in 2018 that wouldn't be a good idea, but even if you were to go back to so far as the 50s, I think that you would find a lot of blacks saying "yes. I very much WOULD like to have a seperate government ruling me in America, because this other group doesn't care about my rights".

There are lots of times when the majority is wrong, and decentralizing power is one method of insulating people from the effects of it.

Re:The Revolution Against the Revolution: Looking Back on Sh... by ameister14 on Thursday August 16, 2018 @01:23PM (#17776659)
>If we had a legislative house for white people and another for black people, would that be a good idea because hey, that white majority doesn't always think long term?

No, because that doesn't make any sense. Nobody always thinks long term. That's one of many reasons why we have a Republic, not a Democracy.

Geographic minorities in the US get extra political power because they require increased infrastructure spending relative to their population, they have a history of rebellion in systems with a centralized government and so that lower population states are more likely to not only accept the decisions of government but actively take part.

Re:The Revolution Against the Revolution: Looking Back on Sh... by TulliusCicero on Thursday August 16, 2018 @01:33PM (#17776774)
> No, because that doesn't make any sense. Nobody always thinks long term.

Then why do we have one house where geographic minorities get extra power permanently?

> Geographic minorities in the US get extra political power because they require increased infrastructure spending relative to their population

No, they get extra political power because it was needed to bring them into the union when the country was founded, and the Constitution is very difficult to amend. At this point there's no reasonable justification it should continue this way, except that the very parties that benefit also have veto power over the system changing. It's like the Security Council.

> they have a history of rebellion in systems with a centralized government

Funny, there are lots of countries that don't give extra political power to rural areas that seem to manage just fine. Does anyone seriously think Wyoming is going to try and secede? Why would they if, by your own admission, they're being subsidized by the more populous states?

> more likely to not only accept the decisions of government but actively take part.

Syracuse, NY has an even smaller population than those states, and yet somehow its residents manage bring themselves to take part in politics.

Re:The Revolution Against the Revolution: Looking Back on Sh... by ameister14 on Thursday August 16, 2018 @02:49PM (#17777486)
Doesn't Wyoming currently have disproportionate political power relative to their population? If they didn't, would they still be subsidized?