Well, that's a relief. Even though there were warnings for weeks and months before the election about a "red mirage" that might happen election night, a result of Trump supporters voting on election day and Biden supporters voting heavily by mail, and the order in which the ballots would be counted, even though many of … Continue reading An election fit for 2020
Tag: Politics
Voting in the general election, 2020 edition
I voted. I did early voting, although I would have preferred to have voted by mail. However, my state's Republican dominated legislature did everything they could to prevent that. The state only offered mail-in voting after they lost a lawsuit, and then only for relatively narrow cases. To do it, I would have had to … Continue reading Voting in the general election, 2020 edition
The rise of the west and the changing sociopolitical landscape
Aeon this weekend highlighted a 2017 article by Joel Mokyr looking at how Europe became the richest part of the world (or at least one of the richest). Historically, there have been many theories, ranging from racist rationals, cultural ones, to it merely being Europe and the overall west's turn to be on top. That … Continue reading The rise of the west and the changing sociopolitical landscape
Don’t teach Congress about science and technology; teach the voters
M. Anthony Mills has a short piece at Politico advocating the return of the OTA (Office of Technology Assessment), which was defunded in the 1990s as a budget cutting measure. The argument is that congress needs to know more about science and technology, that maybe if they knew more, they'd make better decisions. Except, politics … Continue reading Don’t teach Congress about science and technology; teach the voters
Politics is about self interest
I've read a lot of history, including American history of the 18th and 19th centuries. It's interesting to read about the politics of these periods. From a distance across generations and centuries, you can see the distinction between the self interested stances people took and the rhetoric that was used to justify those stances. An … Continue reading Politics is about self interest
America’s long path to universal voting rights
My memory of what I learned in early grade school about the history of American voting rights went something like this. Prior to 1776, we were ruled by the king of Great Britain. He was a tyrant who oppressed us with taxation without representation, so we rebelled and set up a democracy. (UK readers, I see … Continue reading America’s long path to universal voting rights
Lessons from the election of 1824 and Silvio Berlusconi
Understandably, a lot of people continue to be upset about the results of this election. One thing that keeps coming up in my feeds are people advocating for the electoral college to change that result. The idea is that if 37 Republican electors can be convinced to change their vote, Trump can be prevented from … Continue reading Lessons from the election of 1824 and Silvio Berlusconi
Why Trump won, and a calmer assessment of the situation
The filmmaker Michael Moore, who had predicted a Trump win several months ago, went on Morning Joe on Friday and discussed why Trump won. It was painful to watch, but the main point that struck home was when Moore pointed out that many Trump voters were previously Obama voters. What this tells me is that we … Continue reading Why Trump won, and a calmer assessment of the situation
Well, we went and did it
Obviously I see the results of this election as a tragic mistake, one that we'll be feeling for a long time. It's hard not to see this as a victory for fear, hatred, and bigotry. The man who came to political prominence by calling into question the citizenship and legitimacy of the first black president … Continue reading Well, we went and did it
Early access to exit poll data, universal suffrage, and other election ruminations
So, tomorrow is election day here in the US. If you're a US citizen and you haven't voted yet, now's the time to make plans. As I noted in the last post, this is not the year to sit the election out. The most recent projections still show Clinton with a slight to modest lead, … Continue reading Early access to exit poll data, universal suffrage, and other election ruminations
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