Blackmoor Vituperative

Everything in the way the US government is organized is a compromise. From the two chambers of the US legislature, to the Bill Of Rights, to the Electoral College, literally every sentence in our founding documents is a compromise between competing interests (that is a thing that Americans used to be able to do).

The Electoral College was a compromise which was appropriate for its time. In the 1700s, the federal government was weak, the President was little more than a figurehead, and the states were de facto each an individual country.

The question we should ask today is, does the Electoral College do more good than harm for the 21st century USA? It clearly disenfranchises people. The votes of millions of California Republicans, for example, mean absolutely nothing in a Presidential election. They may as well not even be counted. Is that the way things should be?

“Grudges are for the weak and self-destructive. Do you want tomorrow to be better than today? Then stop stoking the fire of yesterday’s pain.”

Brandon Blackmoor , 2019-09-11

When someone urges you to “never forget” a particular tragedy, stop and think: what exactly do they want you to remember, and why? Is it that they want to honor the memory of those who have died? Or are they trying to turn your grief into anger? Are they trying to manipulate you for your benefit, or for theirs?

What do they gain by keeping you angry?

Where are they trying to direct your anger?

Think.

Your anger might be righteous, and it might be enough to motivate you to work for change. But it might also just be an easy way for a cynical person to manipulate you.

Google has removed the options to search for images “Larger than …” and “Exact size” from their Images search. If this makes Google Image search USELESS for you, as it does for me, consider using Yandex, instead.

“A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that worked. A complex system designed from scratch never works and cannot be patched up to make it work. You have to start over with a working simple system.”

— John Gall, “Systemantics: How Systems Really Work and How They Fail” (1975)

“It must be considered that there is nothing more difficult to carry out nor more doubtful of success nor more dangerous to handle than to initiate a new order of things.”

-Niccolò Machiavelli, “The Prince” (1532), Ch. 6