For those of you who might be unfamiliar with California Proposition 8 (or the California Marriage Protection Act [a loaded title if I ever heard one]), was a ballot proposition and a constitutional amendment in November of 2008 to add a new provision to Section 7.5 of the declaration of rights that provides that "only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California". This Proposition Passed. It was put to a vote and a sufficient number of people voted "Yes". Yesterday though, a California Judge overturned Prop 8, calling it "unconstitutional". Let me say, thank science that there are still rational people out there.
Maybe I'm biased because I'm pro gay-marriage but if you don't like it you can eff-off to another blog.So what I really want to get at here is the flaw of democracy. The problem is that everyone can vote. "Well hold on there..." you will possibly say, "...democracy wouldn't be democracy if not everyone could vote". That is true reader, and we all know that "democracy is the worst form of government except for all the others that have been tried" as Winston Churchill once said. This proposition 8 thing probably shouldn't have been voted on at all then because gay people getting married doesn't affect you unless you are gay. As much as the naysayers will go on about the bull-shit "sanctity of marriage" with a 50% divorce rate and OH JESUS THINK OF THE CHILDREN! because they need a Mother and a Father figure even though they're growing up in a loving family this does not affect you.
Logically, there should not be a referendum on issues that do not affect the general public. Especially when in the constitution it already states that all equals have the right to marry. That's right, they made an amendment to deprive people of their rights and that was OK! The turn-out for this vote was so high because so many damned people were adamant about getting in other people's business. This is my problem with the Christian right. I am not deluded, and it would be better if you weren't deluded but that's alright because your delusion does not really affect me. My problem is that when your religious delusions transfer into law, you affect people who do not share your own view on morality.
With Prop 8, Gay people (who only make up about 10% of the population) had to also get 41% of the population who are straight people to vote with them. For this election, voter turnout was especially high with a turnout of almost 80% of the population. Of course, most of those people were people who couldn't mind their own business like Christians, Republicans, and Old People. Still, the vote was surprisingly close with 52% yes and 48% no.
When this proposition was struck down yesterday by a California Judge, he effectively said, "I am smarter than you, I have qualifications, I know the constitution, you do not. We will go forward with civil rights." And so, right prevailed even though the wrong voted on it. This went against the normal rules of democracy. God bless America.
Ahhhh I love Winston Churchill somewhat anti-democratic quotations. As soon as I saw your introduction on Facebook, referring to this blog being somewhat about democracy being sometimes wrong, I had to fish this one out of my profile's favourite quotations section:
ReplyDelete"The best argument against democracy is a five-minute discussion with the average voter." - Winston Churchill"
Civil rights are NEVER something that should be voted on. The reason civil rights exist is because of majorities oppressing minorities. Thus to put them up for a vote and call that fair is ludicrous.
Ah but one must see that the recent tyranny of the minority has had a major effect on how free people are in the states. If I disagree with my governments taxation I am a racist. Therefore freedom of speech and oppinion and yes the dillusion that is religion ( your, possibly, intolerant words) which are the most sacred of American freedoms are attacked. Yes I agree this should never have gone to public vote as it was a matter of the constitution and thus should be handled by the supreme court, but you must remember that in Canada and Sweden the referendum has been used for all kinds of direct democracy including getting nonvoters involved. Those voting for or against prop 8 had preconceived notions going to the polls as Mormon and Catholic groups ran propoganda that pro gay marriage groups could not afford. Finally if you are going to demean democracy don't attack America ( a republic I might add), instead attack Belgium for perpetuating racism and democracy that led to the Rwandan genocide. Gay marriage is important but 800 000 dead Africans is a better example of democracies failure. Or Socrates dying. Also I was promised humour!
ReplyDeleteIs that you, Nate?
ReplyDeleteI would argue the major flawed is not democracy but the goals set out by the American constitution. These goals are “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” They are copied from John Locke’s work in which he is competing to disprove another philosophers belief that god doesn’t exist. I would argue that the first two goals are not the problem but the “pursuit of happiness” is the problem. After all to achieve happiness requires the opposite of a pursuit because it requires acceptance and being present in the moment. A pursuit is never ending search and struggle that can only create conflict, hence why America is always divided because it is in search of the ideal utopia based off of ideologies that compete with one another. To be fair the tone of your article/blog is somewhat ideological but you are not the speaker of a house lol (that joke is for free). This is why I like Hobbes better for the most part with the exception that people are naturally evil. I disagree with that because there are a variety of factors effecting how people act such as environment. Luckily Hobbes believes in a structured system in which we lose some individual liberties to gain security and control of our environment for the better. Of course the fear is a 1984 scenario in which such a system becomes to powerful and abusive. Hobbes however argues that such abusive actions jeopardize the legitimacy of the ruler and make him or her vulnerable to losing power by creating an upset public. Things like media, watchdogs, arms length operations, audits and elections also help keep this system humming, thus keeping conflict to a minimum and having it easily resolved. This is why Canada’s boring constitutional goals are so awesome. These goals are of course “peace, order and good government.” Strangely this also means that Canada is therefore more libertarian on this front than the US I would argue the major flawed is not democracy but the goals set out by the American constitution. These goals are “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” They are copied from John Locke’s work in which he is competing to disprove another philosophers belief that god doesn’t exist. I would argue that the first two goals are not the problem but the “pursuit of happiness” is the problem. After all to achieve happiness requires the opposite of a pursuit because it requires acceptance and being present in the moment. A pursuit is never ending search and struggle that can only create conflict, hence why America is always divided because it is in search of the ideal utopia based off of ideologies that compete with one another. To be fair the tone of your article/blog is somewhat ideological but you are not the speaker of a house lol (that joke is for free). This is why I like Hobbes better for the most part with the exception that people are naturally evil. I disagree with that because there are a variety of factors effecting how people act such as environment. Luckily Hobbes believes in a structured system in which we lose some individual liberties to gain security and control of our environment for the better. Of course the fear is a 1984 scenario in which such a system becomes to powerful and abusive. Hobbes however argues that such abusive actions jeopardize the legitimacy of the ruler and make him or her vulnerable to losing power by creating an upset public. Things like media, watchdogs, arms length operations, audits and elections also help keep this system humming keeping conflict to a minimum and having it easily resolved. This is why Canada’s boring constitutional goals are so awesome. These goals are of course “peace, order and good government.” Strangely it also means that Canada is more libertarian than the US on this front by not having the state seek out happiness but individuals. Anyways those are my thoughts.
ReplyDeleteJake, did you copy and paste that? Because you wrote it twice. Also, anonymous, I wasn't attacking America specifically, but the flawed idea of voting on civil rights. Prop 8 was just the easiest thing to go after because it was recent in the news.
ReplyDelete