Things I have to post - libertarianism derail

[amused]

Jeebus, look at how fractured the rest of the field is after the two main parties. And even the socialists split into three - socialist, workers world, socialist workers. WTF? Not very 'social' of them. If ever there was an argument for keeping the two-party system, that ballot is it.

[laklak]

One Party would make it even simpler.

[Coito ergo sum]

...You don't make goverment or any other form any more complex that it needs to be

My point exactly. Asking the average voter to tick boxes on possibly hundreds of ballot pages in order to determine how they want their tax money spent is far more complex than the ballot I linked to. If they cannot figure out the Florida ballot, as poorly designed as it was, how on earth would they manage one that required more than a single choice? Anyone who could not suss out how to vote for Al Gore back in 2000 shouldn't have been voting in the first place, let alone determining how trillions of Federal dollars should be spent.

Seth's idea of allowing voters to determine financial priorities might work in a society of highly educated, intelligent, motivated voters, but it doesn't stand a snowball's in a society whose only criteria for voting is attaining a minimum age and successfully breathing.

I would add that Seth's idea doesn't work in a society of geniuses. People just do not have the practical time available in their lives to make any sort of inquiry into the propriety of reams of expenses and costs and programs. Does the military need 1,000 tomahawk missiles, or 5,000? Do they need toilet paper on the USS Carl Vinson? I don't know.

[amused]

The human body is a kludge, why would any of the organizing systems that we create be any different? What we have in place now is good enough to get by for most people. Which makes it good enough.

[Seth]

...You don't make goverment or any other form any more complex that it needs to be

My point exactly. Asking the average voter to tick boxes on possibly hundreds of ballot pages in order to determine how they want their tax money spent is far more complex than the ballot I linked to. If they cannot figure out the Florida ballot, as poorly designed as it was, how on earth would they manage one that required more than a single choice? Anyone who could not suss out how to vote for Al Gore back in 2000 shouldn't have been voting in the first place, let alone determining how trillions of Federal dollars should be spent.

Seth's idea of allowing voters to determine financial priorities might work in a society of highly educated, intelligent, motivated voters, but it doesn't stand a snowball's in a society whose only criteria for voting is attaining a minimum age and successfully breathing.

I would add that Seth's idea doesn't work in a society of geniuses. People just do not have the practical time available in their lives to make any sort of inquiry into the propriety of reams of expenses and costs and programs. Does the military need 1,000 tomahawk missiles, or 5,000? Do they need toilet paper on the USS Carl Vinson? I don't know.

If they don't know or don't care, they are not required to earmark their money. If they do care, and they want to buy toilet paper for the military exclusively, then they should be able to do so.