**** Elections thread *****

[OngBonga]

I dunno, I didn't really take in the context of your comment, I just took issue with your idea that a "one person one vote" system was optimal. It probably would be if it's what we had.

[wufwugy]

I dunno, I didn't really take in the context of your comment, I just took issue with your idea that a "one person one vote" system was optimal. It probably would be if it's what we had.

Under one man one vote, you have has much say over what happens to Bill Gates' money as Bill Gates does.

This is very clearly not fair. Boost is right when he says people have put democracy up on a pedestal. Democracy as a universal wonder has been so deeply indoctrinated into us that the statement "Under one man one vote, you have has much say over what happens to Bill Gates' money as Bill Gates does" feels like it must be wrong even though the rationale is sound.

[Poopadoop]

Under one man one vote, you have has much say over what happens to Bill Gates' money as Bill Gates does.

Welcome to organised society. In your utopian vision, no-one would pay taxes and we'd all be free to prance around the forest. lalala.

What makes Bill Gates deserve to keep all the money he earns? What has he done for society besides hit some nice variance in life and taken advantage of it?

No-one is saying he should pay 100% taxes and become a pauper, and no-one would vote for that system of government either.

[OngBonga]

Under one man one vote, you have has much say over what happens to Bill Gates' money as Bill Gates does.

Why are we having a vote to determine what happens to Bill Gates' money? On this basis, I also get to vote on what you have for breakfast. This is an entirely irrelevant point.

The concept of "one man one vote" only needs to apply when it comes to elections.

[wufwugy]

Why are we having a vote to determine what happens to Bill Gates' money? On this basis, I also get to vote on what you have for breakfast. This is an entirely irrelevant point.

The concept of "one man one vote" only needs to apply when it comes to elections.

That's what we do in elections. We decide what an arbitrarily designated group (it can even be an individual) gets to do with his money or time or behavior. If enough people voted for enough politicians to rewrite the US Constitution, saying that Bill Gates has to eat mud every Thursday at 4:00, guess what would start happening each Thursday at 4:00...

I set the example up in micro terms to make it easier to understand, but the principle remains no matter how macro we get. It is the same when millions of willfully unemployed people vote to tax rich people more.