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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
I mean, hell. Women are considered a minority. Women, 50% of the population, are a disempowered minority. If that doesn't demonstrate the fundamental problem with how we define "Majority", then I don't know what will.
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.Many of the Founders were well aware that they were planting the seeds of a disastrous conflict over civil rights (a Civil War, if you will) when they put in the "three fifths of a person" wording, but there was simply no alternative if they wanted it signed. It's almost exactly the same problem that FDR faced when trying to implement the New Deal, and the problem that almost killed Obamacare.
Like it or not, the demographics of the United States often create terribly racist policies, because more of us than we care to admit harbor those beliefs even to this day. This is why there are protections built in so that acts that destroy liberty can be struck down by the courts, but those only work so long as the courts have people in them who don't hold those same views.
If this is aimed at me I absolutely understand this, my point was just that the Founders focusing on one specific minority does not mean the Tyranny of the majority is a useless concept. It just means how they specifically addressed it was either useless or counterproductive from a perspective that cares about underprivileged minorities.
We obviously should judge them fairly and keep in mind the historical contexts.
Edited by Fourthspartan56 on Feb 5th 2019 at 3:10:51 PM
"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji YangYes, but context matters. "Tyranny of the Majority" defines the Majority as numerical majority, not sociological.
The people who wield the most political power in America are
- Wealthy
- Heterosexual
- Cis-gendered
- White
- Christian
- Men
A single deviation from that list, and you're considered part of an underprivileged minority demographic by sociological definitions. However, I expect that nearly everyone reading this deviates from it in at least one category, probably two or more.
The empowered majority demographic represents a minority of voters, and as such it makes perfect sense that they would have "Tyranny of the Majority" as one of their major bogeymen. That one group wields entirely disproportionate power and has no interest in sharing that power with the overwhelming majority of Americans who do not fit neatly into their category.
This is by design. Protecting this narrow demographic's disproportionate power is avoiding "Tyranny of the Majority" as the Founding Fathers intended it.
Edited by TobiasDrake on Feb 5th 2019 at 1:23:23 PM
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.Think about it this way: Hillary Clinton won the popular vote in 2016, but lost the election. We most definitely do not have tyranny of the majority in this country.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"Something from the What the Fuck Just Happened Today feed (which I'll post in full later):
Trump and Jared Kushner met with contractors at the White House to discuss building the border wall last week, despite senior Senate Republicans and members of GOP leadership raising concerns about Trump bypassing Congress and using an emergency declaration to build his wall. "Listen closely to the State of the Union," Trump said when asked if he was ready to announce a national emergency.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/05/politics/trump-contractors-border-wall-national-emergency/index.html
Edited by sgamer82 on Feb 5th 2019 at 1:49:42 PM
Bernie Sanders
tweeted about Stacey Abrahams speaking for the Democratic Party in response to Donald Trump.
The first half of the tweet was nice in that he said he was looking forward to her speech (I'm a sucker for people complementing local politicians I like) but then he immediatly ruined everything but pushing his own response that he would be giving online.
Way to make it about yourself Sanders.
Edited by Fourthspartan56 on Feb 5th 2019 at 3:51:26 PM
"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji YangFederal prosecutors are now seeking interviews with ranking members of the Trump Organization.
Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.![]()
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I really wish reporters wouldn't ask him questions like that. It feels like they're giving him ideas, or at least keeping the idea in his mind.
And, like, most of them 'are you planning on committing a crime tomorrow?' is understood to not be an appropriate interview question, and by asking it like it's a normal one, it gets people to start thinking of Crimes as somebody people can casually admit to planning and suffer no consequences.
Edited by Gilphon on Feb 5th 2019 at 3:55:16 PM
"I mean, hell. Women are considered a minority. Women, 50% of the population, are a disempowered minority. If that doesn't demonstrate the fundamental problem with how we define "Majority", then I don't know what will."
Incidently, the Colorado Legislature's lower house is majority women, and Nevada's entire Legislature's is majority women. I think the latter is a first in national history.
@Fourthspartan: Regarding the Response to SOTU, according to Wikipedia multiple responses to it
were sorta common before a (mostly) one-response era set in.
Way to make it about yourself Sanders.
Because of course he did.
Disgusted, but not surprisedMy problem is not that Sanders has his own response, my problem is that immediately after congratulating Stacey Abrams for being selected he made it about himself by pushing his response.
It's not a good look, especially considering that she's a black woman and he's an old white guy.
I don't think he did it because of racism or sexism, just the normal Sanders self-centered-ness, and tone deafness.
"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji YangAt some point you gotta wonder.
Yeah, just calling it tone deaf may be somewhat generous.
If we're being less generous it could be seen as simply another symptom of his indifference to anything that isn't his single issues.
"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji YangI mean it looks pretty obvious to me, he's using Abrams being chosen as a chance to try and hype himself, he's not congratulating Abrams for being chosen and then plugging his own stuff, he's plugging his own stuff and using Abrams as a way to make his plug more trendy.
“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran

However much it may rankle to hear it, the Founders were products of their time and for every progressive view they held, there was an opposing conservative view. Heck, there was a substantial call to make George Washington a king. You can't just ignore these factors when discussing the Constitution.
Many of the Founders were well aware that they were planting the seeds of a disastrous conflict over civil rights (a Civil War, if you will) when they put in the "three fifths of a person" wording, but there was simply no alternative if they wanted it signed. It's almost exactly the same problem that FDR faced when trying to implement the New Deal, and the problem that almost killed Obamacare.
Like it or not, the demographics of the United States often create terribly racist policies, because more of us than we care to admit harbor those beliefs even to this day. This is why there are protections built in so that acts that destroy liberty can be struck down by the courts, but those only work so long as the courts have people in them who don't hold those same views.
Now, this is not to say that a majority of people in the U.S. are substantially racist. However, the way the our government is designed allows a relatively small number of people to hold a dominant grasp on government, and not coincidentally these people tend to live in low-density areas that vote very, very red.
The Republican Party has done a masterful job of capitalizing on this by seizing control of state governments, using that control to gerrymander and install anti-democratic voting rules, and then parlaying that into a scenario in which Democrats have to win the public vote by double digits just to maintain majority control of government.
It allows a minority of voters to control our national policymaking. It is the exact opposite of tyranny of the majority. It is grotesque and immoral, and it works.
Edited by Fighteer on Feb 5th 2019 at 3:00:53 PM
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"