Multiple instance constitution

Having different constitutional instances for each agency governing a different aspect of our lives would give us more precise selection of representatives that match our particular concerns about that exact area.   Such representatives may have differing opinions on other areas of government, but his position would not allow him to have any more influence on those other areas that I would have.   The representative would represent me only in the specific area of the agency he is elected into.

More thoughts on setting an age limit on voting in a Democracy

The point of setting a maximum age limit is to restore the approximate relative influence of young people that they enjoyed during the very successful years of US democracy during the 19th and early 20th century. The upper age limit must be low enough to exclude sufficient number of people from voting so that the younger voters can have an appropriate level of influence on voting and policy-making. According my calculations from census bureau data, about 32% of the population is over 55, but only 16% is over 65, and only 7% is over 75. The 55 year age limit results in a significant shift in voting power to young people. Setting the age at 65 is much less effective and by 75 there is hardly an affect at all. In terms of numbers, 55 works great as an upper voting age limit.

Modern era of longer lifespans exposes fatal flaw of democracy: the need to disenfranchise the old

Assuming that a democracy is strongest when the demographics of the eligible voters are younger, we can redefine the eligibility for voting rights from the current eligibility to all adults to a new eligibility of all young adults. In other words, we need disenfranchise adults after they reach a certain age. This mimics what nature did for us in the 19th century. Older adults will continue to enjoy long lifespans and pension-like benefits. They will lose the opportunity to vote after a certain age.

Democracy: Government by “now it is our turn”

This recent Understanding Our Divisions post by George Will was very thought provoking.  The part that caught my attention was his focus on the word democracy. Democracy is rule by the people.   But instead of focusing on the word people, focus instead on the first part.   Saying we have a democracy is saying…

Comprehension vs Rhetoric in terms of implications on Democracy

My childhood education is modern as opposed to classical.   In terms of English, modern education focuses on reading, writing, and comprehension.    Common Core takes this approach but with a fixed program that dictates that this education process is stretched over 13 years (K-12).   There is even some talk to answer disappointing progress…

Zombie Government

My last post Government by history instead of by law concludes by the idea that democracy is reduced to mere act of budgeting an otherwise autonomous government and that budget is from increasing debts.  Increased debts robs the future. It only later occurred to me that I described something zombie-like.  The government is like a zombie…

Government by history instead of by law

The way I understand our government is to view the constitution as a starting point that enabled the accumulation of precedents that is specific to our history. We started with a constitution that was ratified only after vigorous debate.  This debate analyzed every aspect of the document to capture a consensus view of how a…

Achilles Heel of Democracies

I continue to follow the unfolding drama of Venezuela and Ukraine.  They have reached an unfortunate stage where there doesn’t seem to be any kind of deliberative solution.  In each case, some side needs to establish some calm and normalcy so that a peaceful economy can resume and allow for the return of more democratic government in the more distant future. On an…

Pursuit of happiness

One of the goals of setting up the US government is to provide a high degree of freedom for citizens to pursue their own goals.  Over the ages, the democratic process has done a good job in adapting to gradually changing definitions of what kinds of activities should protected.  Democratically, the goal of happiness is…

Veto by minority

I am no scholar of government or of the US government in particular.  My understanding is very basic and mostly what I learned several decades ago.  But I am thinking about our government in context to government-destabilizing protests in Ukraine and Venezuela (with more interest on Venezuela that is getting virtually no attention compared to…