REPLY Zimbardo lecture (SD6449)

[SDMAIL Carl Betterton]

Posted by  Carl Betterton <carlb at uga.edu>

Tom Cavin's lengthy missive was interesting, but also disappointing that the 
description could not be provided without promoting a specific partisan view, 
i.e., "... we might have a government that is more amenable to reason and that 
does not ignore "inconvenient truths" or other important issues." The reference 
to Gore's global warming "inconvenient truth" is obvious, and our government, 
were it more "amenable to reason" would not ignore this "important issue." 

The USA has a great but certainly not perfect system. Negative campaigns have
by no means deterred me or my family and friends from voting and otherwise 
participating in the process. The electorate generally get the candidates and 
elected representatives they deserve. People just have to wise up and get active 
if they want different results. The leverage point is active involvement by 
citizens (all of us!).

Point 13 is appallingly cynical, if I understand it. Because I vote, I am one of 
those "... who is left after all these effects are taken into account." So I am 
one who will respond to simple, sound-bite messages, or I have an agenda that 
the candidates are addressing. Or I am one of those who are fearful of "the greater 
evil" and will therefore vote for "the lesser evil".

I personally do not believe approval voting will ever become our practice, but if 
it did, I expect that change would induce politicians to figure out ways to game 
that system just as much as they do with the present system. Politicians are people, 
with all the imperfection and faults of people. To suggest that we need to "turn our 
system around and get it moving in a more sustainable fashion" is a lamentable 
characterization of our political system. Having traveled all over the world and 
watched the politics in many nations I would paraphrase an aphorism, that our
Republican form of government represents the worst in the world, except for all 
the rest.

Best regards,

Carl

Carl E. Betterton, Ph.D., P.E 
Posted by  Carl Betterton <carlb at uga.edu>
posting date  Fri, 18 May 2007 21:00:34 -0400