Red State vs. Blue State Reductionist Dichotomy (part 1 of 2

[trilobright]

New England...cigarettes...lattes? Uh, nope. Grew up in Boston and almost no one smokes, and everyone drinks plain old simple Dunkies coffee, hot or iced based on season, extra extra or reg-yah-lah, depending on your preference.

[civwarfan]

Weren't the Repulicans more like the Democrats and vice versa once a pawn a time?

How did the change happen?

[hellavadeal]

We are really purple arn't we

[donotfeedthetroll]

i like the video but man, you might want to think about cutting those fingernails.

[brodycrider]

Michigan isn't full of a bunch of working stiffs. we have a very high unemployment rates. one of the highest in this country.

[sadvipran]

that doesn't make the majority of us unemployed. last i heard it was around 8% unemployment. i was of course making generalizations (a dangerous enterprise), but I don't your "correction" is accurate.

[brodycrider]

im just trying to point out that trying to group Michigan in with the working stiffs is hard to do, seeing that we have a higher unemployment rate than most countries. plus i must say you have a very broad vocabulary. if you are trying to play to an large audience, try to use words that pretty much everyone knows. but maybe im just stupid and don't have a good vocab.

[rpyromaniac]

The lies go so deep it'll make your head spin. Contact me if you're willing to listen.

Or, Red pill or blue pill, Neo?

[disciplinemisanthrop]

i notice you chose to wear a red and blue shirt

[joshjhutton]

WOW, someone else gets it too.

[sadvipran]

Fuck that shaving thing

[RecceMan90]

Its more like Welfare people, Union thugs and Elitests are blue!

[clickonmyusername]

blue is better!!!!!!

[clickonmyusername]

Kittttty!!!!!!!!

[fckuvrymch]

you kill me kevin.

i love it.

[smithester]

I'm glad you're explaining the difference between red and blue. You should check out this new movie called, "Blue State". It's about moving to Canada after the 2004 election because of being disgusted with US politics

[Trepp86]

divide and rule

[slothbear5]

That start is 100% ballin, your a super guy, and I love you dearly, but you can be such an asshole sometimes when you forget Alaska and Hawaii. Bitches, bitches soggy bitches!!!

[sadvipran]

yeah, i just printed them. i thought it inconsiderate too. "continentalism" is a form of discrimination.

[def44]

Nice start = )

[nenxe]

I assume it's no coincidence that you're wearing a blue and red striped shirt?

[sadvipran]

shoot, i try so hard to make all those little things look casual.

[matrixcmitech]

that's a powerful way to demonstrate how propagandized we are. if that sequence of graphics were shown on faux news with a pirate signal perspectives would instantly change.

[fanmattai]

waiting for round two.

[sadvipran]

in process.  still doing this crap on other peoples' computers, sigh.

[mungojelly]

We need to demand that the USA have at least three parties. The only way to do that is to change our electoral systems. I strongly support preference voting, range voting and IRV. These and other electoral reforms are much more fundamentally important than any superficial transformations. Government actually works the way we say it does. We elect the @#$%^&s. We have to figure out why it happens the way it does, and change it; it's that simple.

[Policritic]

3 parties? Why, so then 40% of Americans can determine the leadership? How will that work out? Fragile coalitions? If you want to discover the drawbacks of a multi-party PR system, check out Italy for the past 100 years. It ain't pretty and Italians have nothing good to report. Our system works best when you have to find common ground with your neighbor. It's up to voters to set the priorities.

[mungojelly]

Obviously I'm not supporting the Italian system -- and obviously they're as trapped by their system as we are by ours. Obviously I'm not supporting people being elected by pluralities, and the fact that you would think that people elected by nonmajorities is the only option for a multi-party democracy is exactly the fucking problem.

[mungojelly]

You need to learn about preference voting, range voting, instant runoff voting, etc. First past the post is NOT the ONLY way to run a democracy, it is the STUPIDEST.

[Policritic]

I don't need to learn about as much as you need to make more comprehensive and cohesive arguments. None of these electoral changes demand a third party, only a different voting procedure. There are trade-offs to all voting schemes and none are perfect, thus one must make a very strong argument for radical change. You're welcome to make it, but profanity doesn't strengthen your argument.

[mungojelly]

Electoral reforms don't "demand" third parties, they allow them. It's the people that are demanding the right to form meaningful political parties. Let's tell the truth: There are NO political parties in the USA today. There are two instruments called parties which are used to create an illusion of democracy, and there is no meaningful way to organize either within those structures or outside of them to form a viable alternative. This is simply not a democracy.

[Policritic]

I can see nothing another party or 2 or 3 ....etc. will do to make you feel democracy is working the way you want. Like I said, our constitution was designed to keep a union together - and so far it has. It's not designed to give every citizen what he/she wants (an impossibility). The electoral system was intended to serve the constitutional aims - not the voters aims, which are highly variable.

[Policritic]

It's SUPPOSED to reduce the choices down to one winner who can command a mandate. The rules we have now do this in one particular way, with which you disagree. It could be reformed, but I see no convincing argument here that we should have multiple parties. That allows people NOT to compromise. People seem very confused about what this USA democracy is about.

[Policritic]

My suggestion is that every partisan voter sit down with an opposition voter and figure out what you can agree on. If you can't, then why not have a duel? That's what we're doing now - it ain't democracy, it's petulance.

[fckuvrymch]

this is exactly the argument i have been reeling with.

there are no real choice, like carlin says.

the choices we do have are simply set-up.

they have yes men in every position.

good video.

[Pinkzippo]

Thesis: The political system in the US is BS.

The geographical info is certainly misleading. Great maps. You have an ability to put issues that are seemingly complicated into clear cut ideas that makes people think! Bravo and keep up the good work:)

[everdamp]

Thanks for the heartwarming video.

Seriously though, keep up the good work because your argument comes out rather clearly. I know that in the end it boils down to the fact that any graphical representation will be unable to fully show the intricacies of the political beliefs that the individuals of a nation possess. As a result, one has to get to the point where one can say that a graph of map sufficiently depicts this information.

[everdamp]

Plus the problem with this misleading graphical system is that to begin with your only coloring based upon Democratic or Republican leanings. A more accurate graphic would be based upon a single issue.

[everdamp]

The problem that this sort of approach to graphical representation is that then one has hundreds upon hundreds of graphs that normally a single individual is not going to want to scan through. In the end Sadvi, people want things that are easy to digest and thus reduce issues to far simpler than they are in reality. (sorry not enough space)

[truvelocity]

Dude,

where did you get those maps. Thank you for this. Your one bright cookie.

Laura

[funny567]

man this is amazing. you truely put this whole voting thing into the right perspective. honestly even with your few vocal slips i thought this video was extremely well composed. Some people could take you for a crazy man, but i think of you as a genius. Truely seeing how our country votes really gives you a good idea of colors: red, blue, and purple. Your whole point about not voting by property size but by population is amazing

[Policritic]

Funny567 - Actually we don't vote by population but by regional representation. The regions that matter are congressional district and state. Ever notice that you vote as a state resident, not a US citizen? We don't have a direct democracy and whether we should is a deeper question.

[funny567]

I know that, I was pointing out how our democracy is representative, therefor all of our red vs. blue maps are by state, where if we counted everyone's personal vote, a popular vote, the true opinion of our country, we would see a drastic difference in color. I believe we should vote by population, although I know we don't.

[Policritic]

I would offer the counter-argument. Our regional divisions go back more than 2 centuries. The latest version is a stark divide between urban vs. rural and suburban counties. The Constitution created a balance among regions and geographical interests and this forces compromise. A pure population vote would violate this balance and throw all elections to the population centers. Why would rural states agree to be in such a union where all their interests were dominated by the urban centers?

[Policritic]

The logical strategy for rural states would be to secede in favor of a union of their contiguous states, leaving the urban regions looking like Pakistan and Bangladesh.

The first priority of the constitution is not to give all citizens what they want through a vote, but to preserve the strength of the union for the good of all. We shouldn't disregard this.

[mungojelly]

The borders of our states were written first by colonial power, then later in the terrible conquest of the West. They have nothing to do with sanity or healthy democracy, and nothing to do with the lives of the people who reside in them, except that those structures are how those people's lives are controlled.

[Policritic]

Are you proposing we redraw state boundaries? I'm not sure what you envision except that you're somehow unhappy with the way the union was established historically. I'm not sure what you believe would make your world more sane. Frankly, the US is unique as a society and a nation and is the longest thriving democracy of its size in the history of the world. Quite a success I'd say...

[Policritic]

I'm not sure why my posts don't fall under the thread to which I reply. Sorry but the last post was directed to mungojelly...

[nabooleo]

proportional representation is true democracy rather than hippocracy. the democrats would win. more educated intelligent people move to built up areas for the work, so the rural areas suffer the "brain drain". The people near the coast who can see the sea are more relaxed and tolerant. while the interbred landlocked republican rednecks go stir crazy with cabin fever abusing the right to bear arms. Proportional representation, Global harmonics, one world, no countries, equality, justice, peace.

[jamiany]

So are you gay? Just thought I might ask.

[netrunner1]

He might be, but I doubt he's interested.

[jamiany]

I like to ask everyone... Why would I be interested in him? It is just a prose of question, there's no validity in wether I am being aggressive or any form of bias in it.

[0chimerical0]

This brings to mind another politcal issue: proportional representation. We are actally far from real democracy and will continue to be so as long as the votes of so many are meaningless in the political spectrum as a whole. Here in Ontario,Canada, we recently had a referendum vote that introduced proportional representaion of our political parties in government, but it never came close to passing. yet so many are dissappointed when a party that has 30% of the country's votes ends up winning.

[Policritic]

There are trade-offs in all social choice voting systems. The two-party system and single district winner-take-all elections give certain advantages you're probably disregarding. It FORCES compromise by rewarding those centrist positions and penalizing extremes. This is probably crucial in a highly pluralistic electorate.

[netrunner1]

Resistance to naiveness is futile.

[simonwizzle91]

i like how all your videos have a meaning

[Policritic]

Okay - but you have posed a question and a criticism, not a thesis. The Red-Blue narrative is a confusing blend of fact and fiction. It's not about states, but it is partly about geography and how our electoral system works.

Most of the fictions are those represented by popular media and popular culture. If this fascinates you, check out the videos under YouTube user Policritic for a more comprehensive look at our current politics.

[sadvipran]

NOTES: i'll post a follow-up vid soon,

i tried to post this as a response to one of your vids, which is i think what drew your attention to me. you seem to argue semantics, as you unidirectionally promote yr channel in the third person.

i found you off searches, you seem to have the most views of a video speaking directly to this topic (that i could find quickly).

[Policritic]

Good. I look forward to it. We may have a productive exchange. Actually my research gets into detailed analysis of voting patterns and deals with specifics, not semantics. But it's not yet apparent from the short teaser videos I've put up. My purpose is to debunk fallacies and provoke new thinking in order to transcend this Red-Blue nonsense.

[Policritic]

Hmmm. sadvipran - my reply did not go under your thread...

[ChaOsAngEL1973]

Wow, do you really only have two choices? extreme blue or extreme red? I find that worrying and indicative of a basic lack of options, I'm in the U.K where ther are more parties to choose from depending on your views. though strangely, red or blue also wins..hmmm interesting stuff man

[FranktheTank501]

There's no more choice in the UK. The two main parties are the only two who will have power (except in the case of a hung Parliament) and they both occupy the center ground.

[ChaOsAngEL1973]

I believe i just said that, if you read the whole comment. sheesh

[CheeezMaster]

awesome

[Orbitingmind]

I got the same frustration about this suposed divide amoung us.