Taking a look at an English electoral map of the 1700's. Very much like today, the Conservative heartland is the countryside, liberals of all stripes dominate the cities.
While "bicostal" is the claim of many Republicans about Democrats, the most recent map returns to the English 1700's form.*
James Madison had to be aware of this when he engineered the Electoral College, in a manner favoring the votes in less densely populated areas. So he was aware than in addition to simply restraining the vicisitudes of popular democracy, it would be applying a conservative bias.
Contrary to the claims of many who hold it, that conservative bias favors established power, primarily, the rich, and their agents and successors. James Madison trusted these guys (including himself) to have the best judgement.
As Noam Chomsky has said with a preceding take on Madison's work, Madison is rolling in his grave now.
(*This is partly because of gerrymandering, which has contained Democrats in their strongholds with impressive majorities, while elsewhere they are just shy of breaking through. Going back to 2006, there were "splotches" of blue around the country, including but less limited to cities. Gerrymandering has made impressive progress since then. The best solution would be popular vote Presidential elections, and statewide proportional representation, both of which I've long favored, but don't waste any time campaigning for. The current system is totally biased against any such change. A revolution or solid left ownership of the polls would be required to attain it, attempts to do so by agreement notwithstanding.)
Chomsky also explained the conservative ownership of the State level. At the State level, which most people don't pay as much attention to, the dominance of power and wealth is even greater, and in fact national wealth can gang up on state politics to help keep it that way.
Only in rare cases can states actually be progressive leaders, and even then it's been of limited success.
A national popular vote would be among the more politically liberating things. Escaping from one key dysfunctional part of the Madisonian prison.
*****
The most assured way to sainthood in US political discourse is as war criminal. All sins will eventually (or much sooner than that) be forgotten in vast honorarium, so long as the individual has kept up their faith in empire forever!
I will sanctify anyone able to replace the oligarchic extractionist exploitationist enforcerist imperial state with a universalist (universal economic rights including healthcare education and housing and work) green (massive public investment in green energy and transportation--with retained public ownership) participationist (let people handle their own affairs, especially in foreign countries, including all things that affect them such as their workplaces) society.
While "bicostal" is the claim of many Republicans about Democrats, the most recent map returns to the English 1700's form.*
James Madison had to be aware of this when he engineered the Electoral College, in a manner favoring the votes in less densely populated areas. So he was aware than in addition to simply restraining the vicisitudes of popular democracy, it would be applying a conservative bias.
Contrary to the claims of many who hold it, that conservative bias favors established power, primarily, the rich, and their agents and successors. James Madison trusted these guys (including himself) to have the best judgement.
As Noam Chomsky has said with a preceding take on Madison's work, Madison is rolling in his grave now.
(*This is partly because of gerrymandering, which has contained Democrats in their strongholds with impressive majorities, while elsewhere they are just shy of breaking through. Going back to 2006, there were "splotches" of blue around the country, including but less limited to cities. Gerrymandering has made impressive progress since then. The best solution would be popular vote Presidential elections, and statewide proportional representation, both of which I've long favored, but don't waste any time campaigning for. The current system is totally biased against any such change. A revolution or solid left ownership of the polls would be required to attain it, attempts to do so by agreement notwithstanding.)
Chomsky also explained the conservative ownership of the State level. At the State level, which most people don't pay as much attention to, the dominance of power and wealth is even greater, and in fact national wealth can gang up on state politics to help keep it that way.
Only in rare cases can states actually be progressive leaders, and even then it's been of limited success.
A national popular vote would be among the more politically liberating things. Escaping from one key dysfunctional part of the Madisonian prison.
*****
The most assured way to sainthood in US political discourse is as war criminal. All sins will eventually (or much sooner than that) be forgotten in vast honorarium, so long as the individual has kept up their faith in empire forever!
I will sanctify anyone able to replace the oligarchic extractionist exploitationist enforcerist imperial state with a universalist (universal economic rights including healthcare education and housing and work) green (massive public investment in green energy and transportation--with retained public ownership) participationist (let people handle their own affairs, especially in foreign countries, including all things that affect them such as their workplaces) society.
