BlairMahaffy

joined 11 months ago
[–] BlairMahaffy@lemmy.ca 3 points 12 hours ago

Important. Katherine Hayhoe suggests that climate change is the hole in the bottom of the buckets that represent our other major issues. We can pour as much resources in the top but climate change is causing it to run out the bottom.

In my opinion, First Past the Post is the rust that is making the buckets unmanageable in the first place. Highly polarized, flip-floping policy isn't solving the big problems.

[–] BlairMahaffy@lemmy.ca 1 points 12 hours ago

I think the promise was "the last unfair election"

The problem is JT (or, probably, more accurately, Gerald Butts) thought that Ranked Ballot was a fairer system.

But pure RB is still a majoritarian system, and is even less proportional (thus less fair IMHO) than FPTP. Once the ERRE made that assessment, it was the end of any "reform".

[–] BlairMahaffy@lemmy.ca 1 points 12 hours ago

CGP Grey did this excellent video on FPTP a number of years ago. Worth a watch.

It explains why a FPTP electoral system will almost certainly gravitate toward a two party system.

It is a feature, not a bug. The NDP is an anomaly. As is the BQ but that's more about regionalism.

https://youtu.be/s7tWHJfhiyo

[–] BlairMahaffy@lemmy.ca 1 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

Except the Constitution doesn't stipulate FPTP. It defines how seats are allocated based on population and provinces and all but doesn't say how to decide what MPs go in what seats. It doesn't mention parties either.

[–] BlairMahaffy@lemmy.ca 19 points 1 month ago (3 children)

Yup. That’s a difficult balancing act. Thing is, nobody wants North American cars except North Americans. The rest of the world is going to EVS while we spend billions (which Stellantis is still in debt for IIRC) propping up and industry that has retrenched back to huge gas guzzlers.

It is reminiscent of the 1970s energy crisis. We bailed out Chrysler (and Ford?) while they surrendered market to smaller, more efficient, European and Japanese imports.