In a message dated 11/11/00 5:00:56 PM, spike66@ibm.net writes:
>Altho it appears as a national embarrassment, the outcome of this election
>perhaps is the most optimal for libertarians and extropians.
Yes. In addition to the points you mention, the very close split in Congress
means
little will get done except things like grandstanding about tires. On the
whole,
changes in society will thus come from more constructive modes of human
interaction like commerce and academia.
I think it's also good to show how arbitrary the results of elections can be
(in
this case, possibly decided by ballot layout). Belief in the "voice of the
people"
becomes religious at times. It's good for people to be reminded democracy is
a means to an end (good government and social harmony), that it's not an end
in itself, and that sometimes democracy is harmful to the goals it's supposed
to attain.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Mon May 28 2001 - 09:50:20 MDT