The time has come and passed on one of the most undemocratic instituitons in this nation. Although we are able to vote for every other elected official in our government, the presidency is out of touch with the people. I'm not going into what it is, just wondering why nothing's been done to get rid of it.
Here are the reasons for having it, and why they are wrong:
1. The electoral college decides because of communication difficulties.
This of course, is completely irrelevant in the day of the Internet - quite obvious.
2. The electoral college decides because the people aren't smart enough to know what's best.
That's the exuse for having a King, next please.
3. It's more fair.
Completely wrong. The last 2 elections have resulted in the politicians going to specific battleground states (like missouri, ohio, and florida) multiple times to rally the troops, and completely neglecting other states (like texas, california, or new york). All of the emphasis and hope was in the arms of a single STATE. This is exactly what we're NOT supposed to emphasise in a free "democratic" society. Yes, we are a republic, but we are a democratic republic as evidenced in our local governments all the way to our senate. The Office of President is the exception. There is no fairness for the little states like south dakota any more than for rhode island.
4. The electoral college represents the smaller states who support our nation.
This is actually my favorite. First and foremost, there are very few natural resources that we produce in our nation that we don't instead purchase elsewhere, and then we export what we have produced. All farmers get subsidies (like extremely cheap property taxes) and many recieve money for not farming. One of the few examples of what we don't import is Milk - which we make and sell in-country. The reasoning is that farmers in the mid-west should have a representative say, to help make sure that laws are not passed that immensely hurt the interests of farmers. With a far lower population taking up a greater area of land, it's otherwise impossible for them to hae a say.
Here's why that's bullshit:
1. We live in a market economy. If anyone passes laws hurting the farmers (lets say, raising taxes on their production), then guess who gets the bill? That cost is reflected by an increase in price at the supermarket. That may possibly result in a price-war, but it's hard to envision one since almost all dairy farmers are part of the same collectives. No politician will pass a law to hurt a particular industry unless it's for the good of the Nation - in which case farmers should not be selfish if they think their own concerns are higher than those of the whole nation.
2. The president doesn't do domestic policy. Contrary to popular belief, the President doesn't write laws. He only passes them or vetoes them - that's it. If he vetoes it, then congress can just override him. That's it. He has VERY little control over domestic laws - thus having an electoral college for that reason is assinine at best.
The electoral college is a mockery of this modern, technologically sound society, as well as our nation's democratic republic.
