Except none of what you suggest will ever happen. Ever. Republicans obstruct even the actual work of governing that desperately needs doing and that would, oddly enough, help their cause in the democratic realm (i.e. showing their constituents they can get things done). Why would they do anything that would basically destroy their party with two strokes of a pen? Same goes for the Democrats, for what it’s worth, but getting rid of first-past-the-post and subjecting the US to proportional representation and coalition governments is even more of a pipe dream.
Respectfully, I think you’re making a common error in reasoning in that you’re mistaking the reality you live in locally – in both time and space – as defining the boundaries of what is possible in other places and in the future. I find that things people say “can never happen” already have or are happening in other places in the country.
The world is full of things, and all of them were at some point new and without historical precedent.
“Possible” and “likely” are quite different concepts. I am in New England. If this would be likely anywhere, it would be here. But that doesn’t matter, because there are plenty of other regions who will fight to the death against such changes. Please, do describe a path forward. I do not see one in my lifetime. We are talking about the national stage, not a homeowner’s association somewhere.
Wouldn’t you know, there are still hard feelings in parts of the US about what happened, and the fight is still fought. And Jim Crow and segregation weren’t protectors of large amounts of wealth and power, just social structures and power in urban enclaves. You’re going to face a hell of a lot more resistance with what you propose. This would be more akin to the end of slavery than the end of Jim Crow, and that took a civil war.
Except none of what you suggest will ever happen. Ever. Republicans obstruct even the actual work of governing that desperately needs doing and that would, oddly enough, help their cause in the democratic realm (i.e. showing their constituents they can get things done). Why would they do anything that would basically destroy their party with two strokes of a pen? Same goes for the Democrats, for what it’s worth, but getting rid of first-past-the-post and subjecting the US to proportional representation and coalition governments is even more of a pipe dream.
What state do you live in?
Respectfully, I think you’re making a common error in reasoning in that you’re mistaking the reality you live in locally – in both time and space – as defining the boundaries of what is possible in other places and in the future. I find that things people say “can never happen” already have or are happening in other places in the country.
The world is full of things, and all of them were at some point new and without historical precedent.
“Possible” and “likely” are quite different concepts. I am in New England. If this would be likely anywhere, it would be here. But that doesn’t matter, because there are plenty of other regions who will fight to the death against such changes. Please, do describe a path forward. I do not see one in my lifetime. We are talking about the national stage, not a homeowner’s association somewhere.
100 years ago we could’ve had this exact conversation about Segregation and Jim Crow.
Wouldn’t you know, there are still hard feelings in parts of the US about what happened, and the fight is still fought. And Jim Crow and segregation weren’t protectors of large amounts of wealth and power, just social structures and power in urban enclaves. You’re going to face a hell of a lot more resistance with what you propose. This would be more akin to the end of slavery than the end of Jim Crow, and that took a civil war.
Well then use that as your reference.
Either way, I’m not giving up.