h a l f b a k e r yWhy did I think of that?
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// Since there is a McDonald’s almost everywhere in the country, // |
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I do not want to live in a world where you have to give people free sandwiches to get them to vote. |
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Worldgineer: So then how is the Democratic party going to get out the vote? |
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Bush showed that a Republican vote can be bought for $300 USD.....Don't know what a Democratic vote costs..... |
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[po] Because in my mind the ideal democracy involves people voting only if they have a good grasp of the issues and candidates. Elections that give people free stuff encourages those with no clue about the issues to vote just to get the free stuff. This introduces noise and bias into the election system. For instance, less vegetarians would come out to vote than meat eaters (in the golden arches example). |
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Yeah, I'm not about to trust McSoy after they announced that they add beef fat as a flavoring to their fries. |
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I'm definately not saying to test voters. I'm just saying it's a bad idea to incent people to vote with anything but a satisfying feeling of civic duty. |
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Oddly enough, this is mildly baked. At my polling place they sell Krispy Creme donuts at the entrance. |
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sorry, normzone, don't get the $300 reference. |
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I was talking about fairly well publicized busing of voters. I'm not aware of any functionally equivalent Republican charter planes or limos. |
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Worldgineer, knowledge of issues is great as an abstraction, but in practice, as jutta points out, it can be used to disenfranchise people. However, I agree that only people that actually want to vote should vote. |
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One of the better initiatives along those lines, though, has been the "plain language" provision for bond issues that I've seen in New Jersey -- I hope it's used elsewhere. |
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$300 is the amount of one-time tax refund that was given to the general populace after Bush was selected president. Vote-buying out front, instead of the usual back room manner. |
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normzone: oh, I'm sorry. I didn't notice the $300 check because of the 30K I paid in property taxes and an unmentionable abount in income taxes. |
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I'm assuming you're kidding if you think 300 would matter to the people you think of as Republicans (meaning the wild eyed greedy Geckos as opposed to the people who are sick and tired of watching 40% of what they earn dissapear). |
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[jutta] - as far as testing one's understanding of issues - I thought that was the principle behind a mandatory level of schooling. Although that's more to ensure that people are *capable* of understanding the issues, not that they actually do. |
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It's a bit of a paradox, really. Representative democracy exists, in part, because it would be far to cumbersome for every single individual to comprehend and analyse every single issue put forth. |
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But buying votes? If a party can't be bothered playing on peoples fears and insecurities, then you know something's wrong... |
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The idea of putting polling stations in shops is baked where I live and it is going to be rolled out over the rest of the UK over the next couple of elections. |
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McDonald's can't get my order right. Why do they call them "orders"? They never get it right... Honest. 6 times in 3 years my household paid a visit - all 3 of us have ordered (so ya know *it ain't me*) - all wrong. Mayor McCheese is Mayor-for-life. |
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Fishbone just for the sentence "Mc Corporation could make rules and procedures for the ballot taking". What, like "No purchase = No vote" you mean? |
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[worldengineer] These Krispy Kreme thingies, I hear about them often but cannot envisage them. They're doughnuts, right? But crispy!? doughnuts are doughy. And creamy? That should be jammy, surely. Do these consist of dough, deep fried until actually crisp with cream inside and then covered with sugar? |
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I weep for you, [squeak], for you have not tasted a Krispy Creme doughnut. |
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They're just donuts (though a little bit sweeter than most). They have automated donut making machines - they form the dough, raise it, float it down a river of hot oil, flip it over, pour a waterfall of icing on them, and are picked up by employees to serve (and give free ones to people waiting in line, watching the process). That's the real draw, is having fresh hot donuts rather than cold ones that were baked hours ago. However, why someone would buy them from a box outside a polling place, being fried hours beforehand is beyond me. |
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So what's creamy about them then? |
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Krispy Kremes, when delivered in all their smothered glory from the womb of the oven, are richly shrouded in a glazing, which embodies the very essence of "cream"... I think. Who knows. They're really tasty. |
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Really? They sound revolting. |
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What exactly sounds revolting about fresh hot fluffy sweet donuts? |
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Deep fried in a river of oil, sweeter than other doughnuts AND then covered in sugar and/or glazing from what I can tell. I do like hot doughnuts very occasionally but I couldn't handle that much sugar and grease. |
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Not as sweet or greasy as all that, I seem to recall. One of those "don't-knock-it-till-you've-tried-it" deals. |
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Actually, a free donut on election day wouldn't hinder me any. |
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Hell, they could hand out just about anything free and more people would come along. All you have to do is make sure that people only get their free [insert freebie of choice] *after* they've voted. How about a nice relaxing face pack /cupasoup / house plant / pen / packet of condoms / badge / baseball cap / minature flag / ooooh ...just anything. As long as it's not a McAnything. |
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[k] Problem is, they aren't free. |
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[World], you gotta know which dumpsters to search. |
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k_sra, you must take life as it comes :) |
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btw, did you ever try the David Blaine trick or did I screw up your email? |
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