Saw this video posted in PoliERA and I believe it deserves more attention and discussion, since I do feel the Senate is a huge issue in the fairness of United States politics that isn't talked about nearly enough, and nothing can possibly change until we begin to discuss it at the very least:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4UTW9_1VoQ
There were some particular replies that pointed out the sheer size of the discrepancies, that illustrated just how undemocratic the Senate currently is (and how it will only get worse in time) that I'm going to relay here, as they really lay the issues bare and more plainly than I possibly could:
And of course, this was my own reply:
As I said there, I have no clue what the answer is because so much as reforming the Senate to make it more democratic would nonetheless require a Constitutional Amendment and thus also at least 2/3 of the Senate voting in favor, which is something I can't possibly see happening.
At the same time though, nothing at all can possibly happen until we at least start discussing and thinking about stuff like this, and thus O'Donnell making that video, and thus me making this thread. Because while neither one of us seems to have the answers, the status quo carrying on is definitely not acceptable either and we need to think of something, some way of doing it better and fixing things, and that doesn't start until we start having conversations like this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4UTW9_1VoQ
There were some particular replies that pointed out the sheer size of the discrepancies, that illustrated just how undemocratic the Senate currently is (and how it will only get worse in time) that I'm going to relay here, as they really lay the issues bare and more plainly than I possibly could:
I was thinking along similar lines and was curious what the numbers looked like (if states had split senators, I gave each senator half the state's population).
Nearly 38 million more Americans are represented by senators that voted AGAINST Kavanaugh. And of course, nearly 3 million more Americans voted AGAINST the president that nominated Kavanaugh.
That's just insanity to me.I think the projection is that by 2040, 70% of the US population will be in 15 states, and thus be represented by only 30% of the Senate.
And of course, this was my own reply:
Yeah, I've made no secret of the fact that I hate the Senate and wish we could do something, but I'm not sure what. Since the complete abolishment, or even restructuring of the Seante, in requiring a Constitutional Amendment to do so, also requires the Senate's consent to go along with any such ideas, and they will not give that easily, limiting options rather severely.
Something certainly has to be done. Such as adding more states, like Puerto Rico, DC, US Virgin Islands, etc. But that's both something that should be done regardless and is only a temporary reprieve at best, if even that, as the fundamental underpinning issues remain, and I'm not sure what can be done about that.
The Senate definitely needs to be changed. It can't remain in its current form, if the United States is to have anything resembling a healthy democracy. But I have no idea how to go about that.
All the same though, it's good to see people like O'Donnell talking about it as everything starts there and nothing can happen if people aren't at the very least having the conversations. I just have no idea what the answers actually are.
As I said there, I have no clue what the answer is because so much as reforming the Senate to make it more democratic would nonetheless require a Constitutional Amendment and thus also at least 2/3 of the Senate voting in favor, which is something I can't possibly see happening.
At the same time though, nothing at all can possibly happen until we at least start discussing and thinking about stuff like this, and thus O'Donnell making that video, and thus me making this thread. Because while neither one of us seems to have the answers, the status quo carrying on is definitely not acceptable either and we need to think of something, some way of doing it better and fixing things, and that doesn't start until we start having conversations like this.