Seed Topic: Voting Rights in the U.S.

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[[File:UNICE-Universal Network of Intelligent Conscious Entities-image.jpg|thumb|left||250px|[[UNICE global brain project]]]]'''Author: Michael E. Arth  
 
[[File:UNICE-Universal Network of Intelligent Conscious Entities-image.jpg|thumb|left||250px|[[UNICE global brain project]]]]'''Author: Michael E. Arth  
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This Seed Topic may only be edited by the author. Please go to [[Voting Rights in the U.S.]] for the collaborative topic on this subject.'''  
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'''Important Note:'''This Seed Topic may only be edited by the author.<ref>The author of the first version of this collaborate topic seed topic, “Voting Rights in the U.S.,” is Michael E. Arth,  2-15-15, released under CC license with attribution at www.UNICE.info. This topic was adapted from his book, ''Democracy and the Common Wealth: Breaking the Stranglehold of the Special Interests''. Anyone may edit this version, subject to the Wikipedia and Wiki-UNICE guidelines</ref> Please go to [[Voting Rights in the U.S.]] for the collaborative topic on this subject.'''  
  
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==Problems:==
  
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===Problems:===
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'''Summary:''' There are a wide range of impediments to fair elections, held in place by antiquated, or purposefully inequitable policies.
  
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'''1. Organized crime:'''  The portion of organized crime devoted to the production and wholesale distribution of illicit drugs constitutes roughly 1% of total global trade (about $1 trillion in 2015). <ref>United Nations research report, “Estimating illicit financial flows resulting from drug trafficking and other transnational organized crime,” United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, October 2011.</ref> In 2011, there were approximately 30,000 gangs with 800,000 gang members on American streets, acting as the primary retail-level distributors of illicit drugs. <ref>Egley, Jr., Arlen and James C. Howell, “Highlight of the 2011 National Youth Gang Survey,” U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs. September 2013.</ref> In 2009, there were another 147,000 gang members in prisons or jails, most of whom were also presumably buying or selling drugs, despite being under armed guard around the clock. <ref>Johnson, Kevin, “Report: Gang membership on the rise across U.S.” USA Today, January 30, 2009. Statistics taken from Justice Department’s National Gang Intelligence Center.</ref>
 
  
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'''2. Gateway to Criminality:''' Users are forced to associate with and become criminals when they buy, and they often steal to afford the exorbitant, prohibition-driven prices after they become addicted. <ref>Arth, Michael E., Democracy and the Common Wealth: Breaking the Stranglehold of the Special Interests, Golden Apples Media, 2010, Chapter 25: “Prohibition Failed” pp. 231-238</ref>
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'''1. “Winner-take-all” and “first-past-the-post” are terms for the undemocratic plurality voting system''' passed down from Great Britain to its former colonies. Combined with the presidential system, it forces voters to choose between two factions of a ruling elite, doesn’t require a majority winner, and makes spoilers out of all who dare challenge it. <ref>Arth, Michael E., ''Democracy and the Common Wealth: Breaking the Stranglehold of the Special Interests''. Chapter 15: “Replace Winner-Take-All,” Golden Apples Media, 2010. pp. 108-117.</ref>  
  
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'''3. Soaring Incarceration rate:''' The incarceration rate rose 700% since Nixon declared the War on Drugs in 1971. <ref>American Civil Liberties Union, https://www.aclu.org/files/assets/massincarceration_problems.pdf </ref> As a result, the U.S. now has the highest incarceration rate in the world—about 10 x higher than Europe or the Middle East. <ref>Source: Justice Policy Institute, "Substance Abuse Treatment and Public Safety," (Washington, DC: January 2008), p. 1. http://www.justicepolicy.org/images/upload/08_01_REP_DrugTx_AC-PS.pdf - See more at: http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/prisons_and_drugs#sthash.KOTBqGcA.dpuf</ref> The U.S. has 4.5% of the world’s population, but 25% of the world’s prisoners. More than half of federal prisoners serving sentences of more than a year are imprisoned for drug-related offenses at an average annual cost in 2012 of over $31,000, but as high as $167,731 in NYC. <ref>Santora, Marc, “City’s annual cost per inmate is $168,000, study finds,” New York Times, August 23, 2013. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/24/nyregion/citys-annual-cost-per-inmate-is-nearly-168000-study-says.html?_r=0</ref>There are now 500,000 people incarcerated for drug-related charges in the U.S. <ref>Source: Carson, E. Ann. Prisoners In 2013. Washington, DC: US Dept of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics, Sept. 2014, NCJ247282. Federal data: p. 16; state data: p. 15. http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=5109 http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/p13.pdf - See more at: http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/prisons_and_drugs#sthash.KOTBqGcA.dpuf</ref>
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'''2. The Electoral College is an inherently undemocratic compromise made to appease slave states''' at the Constitutional Convention in 1787. It does not allow voters to directly choose their president, warps campaigns, distorts governance, helps suppress parties outside the two-party duopoly, creates spoilers, and does not allow representation according to population, just to name a few of the worst effects.<ref>Edwards III, George C. “Five myths about the Electoral College.” The Washington Post, November 2, 2012.</ref> <ref> Brodarick, Taylor, “It’s time to abolish The Electoral College,” Forbes, November 4, 2012.</ref>
  
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'''4. Foreign intervention:''' US military aid and intervention has huge direct and indirect costs, and causes great harm. Plan Columbia, primarily a counternarcotics and military operation in Columbia, increased the profits of drug cartels, damaged the environment, and spawned human rights abuses, while having no effect on US drug consumption.  Some 107,000 people were killed in Plan Mexico, the American-sponsored, Mexican War on Drugs 2006-2014, <ref>Schaeffer-Duffy, Claire, “Counting Mexico's drug victims is a murky business,” National Catholic Reporter, March 1, 2014</ref> during which time the federal police force increased almost 6 times, the drug cartels became more powerful, violence escalated, and drug production went up. <ref>Nick Miroff and William Booth, “Mexico’s drug war is at a stalemate as Calderon’s presidency ends,” New York Times, November 27, 2012. http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/calderon-finishes-his-six-year-drug-war-at-stalemate/2012/11/26/82c90a94-31eb-11e2-92f0-496af208bf23_story_1.html</ref> The US tolerated the heroin trade in Afghanistan in 1979 to supply rebels, including the Taliban. After the US invasion to defeat the Taliban, opium cultivation increased from 8,000 hectares in 2001 to over 200,000 hectares in 2013. The CIA is documented as being complicit in the global drug trade. <ref>Lacayo, Richard, "Iran-Contra: The Cover-Up Begins to Crack". Time. June 24, 2001, Retrieved 2-20-15.</ref> <ref>McCoy, Alfred, The Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade, Afghanistan, Southeast Asia, Central America, Colombia. (revised edition), Lawrence Hill Books, 2003 ISBN 1-44652-483-8</ref> Prohibition helps create a nexus between terrorism and drug cartels, which both utilize cell structures to engage in murder, kidnapping, arms trading, smuggling, protection rackets, money laundering and other illegal activities. Money from drug trafficking also directly funds terrorist activity. <ref>Rand Beers and Francis X. Taylor, “Narco-Terror: The worldwide connection between drugs and terror,” Testimony before the senate committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Technology, Terrorism and Government Information. U.S. Department of State archive, March 13, 2002. http://2001-2009.state.gov/p/inl/rls/rm/8743.htm</ref>
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'''3. Private money corrupts elections and government:''' Politicians spend much, if not most, of their their time begging for money<ref>Carlson, Margaret "Book review: Harvard law professor Lawrence Lessig offers plan to smash culture of money in politics". Bloomberg News, Chicago Tribune. December 26, 2011 Retrieved 2-15-15.</ref> Lessing reports that members of Congress spend 2-3 years raising money before they run for office and then spend 3 out of 5 days a week raising money thereafter.  and thinking of ways to serve their corporate masters, all the while distracting the people with war-making and emotional, religious or nationalistic appeals. Private campaign spending creates a mud-slinging media circus among disreputable candidates who are forced to sell out to become part of the show. <ref>Arth, Michael E., ''Democracy and the Common Wealth'', Chapter 6: “Take Money Out of Politics,” Golden Apples Media, 2010. pp. 76-85.</ref>  
  
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'''5. Hypocrisy:''' The two most lethal drugs, alcohol and tobacco (also among the most highly addictive) are perfectly legal. Together they constitute the true “gateway drugs.” Globally, a large majority of arrests  are related to cannabis, <ref>United Nations World Drug Report, 2014,  page xii</ref> which is less addictive than coffee, <ref>Arkowitz, Hal and Scott O. Lilienfeld, “Experts tell the truth about pot: marijuana use can be problematic but only rarely leads to addiction,” Scientific American, March 1, 2012.</ref> and of such low toxicity there are zero known overdose deaths. <ref>Williamson, E.M, Evans, F.J, “Cannabinoids in clinical practice, US National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, abstract, Drugs. 2000 Dec;60(6):1303-14.PMID: 11152013 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]</ref> <ref>Lavender, Paige, “Congressman reminds us how many people have overdosed on pot: ‘spoiler alert: it’s zero’” The Huffington Post, November 13, 2014, updated 11-14-2014</ref> Even though a majority of Americans support legalizing marijuana, and marijuana is virtually harmless compared to alcohol and tobacco, the government continues to disregard both the facts and public opinion. <ref>Saad, Lydia, “Majority continues to support pot legalization in U.S.” Gallup, November 6, 2014</ref>
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'''4. Corruption Perception Index:''' According to Transparency International, in 2014 the U.S. ranked 17th on the Corruption Perception Index,<ref>Transparency International, “Corruption Perceptions Index 2014: Results,” http://www.transparency.org/cpi2014/results</ref> mostly due to issues related to its electoral system and the politicians produced by it.<ref> Transparency International, Corruption in the U.S., http://www.transparency.org/country#USA</ref> Estimates on the average “return on investment”  for money spent on lobbying and political campaigns range between 600% and 22,000%.<ref> Lessig, Lawrence. Republic, Lost: How Money Corrupts Congress -- and a Plan to Stop It., Twelve, 2011,  p.117. ISBN 978-0-446-57643-7.</ref>
  
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'''6. Interdiction doesn’t work:''' The “noble experiment” of alcohol prohibition failed. It was supposed to reduce crime, gang activity, corruption, taxes, reckless behavior, poor health, incarceration and substance abuse. Instead, it had the opposite effect. <ref>Thornton, Mark, “Alcohol Prohibition Was a Failure,” Cato Institute, Policy Analysis no. 157, July 17, 1991. http://www.cato.org/publications/policy-analysis/alcohol-prohibition-was-failure</ref> Apparently the lessons were ignored, and a new prohibition was launched that included psychoactive substances less dangerous than alcohol. Both private and government funded studies on the efficacy of drug interdiction, for four decades, have shown that interdiction is many times less effective than treatment. The fact that prisoners are able to use drugs in prison, often at higher levels than the general population, vividly demonstrates the futility of interdiction. <ref>United Nations Drug Report, 2014, page 11</ref> Tobacco is the most dangerous drug in the world, and it kills 6 million people a year. Fifteen states attempted to ban tobacco, between 1890 and 1927, and they all failed. The War on Drugs has not reduced drug use, and the U.S. continues to be the number one nation in illegal drug use.<ref>Branson, Richard, “War on drugs a trillion-dollar failure,” CNN, December 7, 2012.</ref>  
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'''5. Freedom of speech is abridged:''' According to Reporters Without Borders, the U.S. ranked 49th in world press freedom rankings, behind such countries as Niger, Burkino Faso and Botswana.<ref>Greenwald, Glenn, “U.S. drops to 49th in world press freedom rankings worst since Obama became president,” The Intercept, Feb. 12, 2015, [https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/02/12/u-s-drops-49th-world-press-freedom-rankings-second-lowest-ever/]</ref> <ref> Reporters Without Borders, 2015 World Press Freedom Index:http://index.rsf.org/#!/index-details</ref> Privately-owned media receives huge benefits from campaign advertising, and tends to “sell wars, spin elections, and destroy democracy.”<ref> McChesney, Robert W, and John Nichols, Tragedy and Farce: How the American Media Sell Wars, Spin Elections, and Destroy Democracy, 2005</ref> Investigative journalism is expendable because it’s not profitable. Big media is so unconcerned about this that it took Comedy Central’s The Daily Show to report that CNN has eliminated its investigative news department.<ref> The Daily Show, “Investigating Investigative Journalism” http://thedailyshow.cc.com/videos/4d109s/investigating-investigative-journalism</ref>
  
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'''7. Self-sustaining corruption:''' Millions of public officials have become involved in dealing drugs, taking bribes or facilitating the drug trade because the easy money is so alluring. In a vicious cycle, the War on Drugs causes more violence, thus causing more police to be hired. The police then resist ending prohibition because reducing drug enforcement would threaten their income. Cops may also lose their jobs just by criticizing current policy. <ref>Lacey, Marc “Police officers find that dissent on drug laws may come with a price,” New York Times, December 2, 2011</ref> Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) is composed mostly of former cops who feel free to state the obvious because they no longer have jobs to lose. <ref>“Why Legalize Drugs?” LEAP website - http://www.leap.cc/about/why-legalize-drugs/</ref>
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'''6. Influence peddling/revolving door:''' 100,000 paid lobbyists feast like fleas on the body politic in service to themselves and their masters, many of whom are outside the country.<ref> Lee Fang, March 10, 2014, The Nation, Where Have All the Lobbyists Gone? On paper, the influence-peddling business is drying up. But lobbying money is flooding into Washington, DC, like never before. What’s going on?, Accessed March 21, 2014</ref> Representative-turned-lobbyist Billy Tauzin was paid $11.5 million in 2010 to lobby for the drug industry. <ref>THOMAS B. EDSALL (12-18-2011). "The Trouble With That Revolving Door". The New York Times. December 18, 2011</ref> The Loeffler Group, headed by former Texas congressman Tom Loeffler, was paid $10.5 million and Qorvis Communications received $60.3 million lobbying for the Saudi government over ten years. <ref>Goldberg, Jeffrey, "Fact-Checking Stephen Walt," ''The Atlantic'', December 8, 2010</ref>  
  
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'''8. Creation of inner city slums:''' Beginning soon after the War on Drugs was declared, the pace of inner city decay accelerated, which also contributed to the flight to the suburbs. Only after a demographic shift diminished the post-war youth bulge did violence rates begin to fall, <ref>Staveteig, Sarah, “The young and the restless: population age structure and civil war,” Wilson Center. ECSP Report, Issue 11, 2005. http://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/Staveteig.pdf</ref> and the inner cities could begin to experience some revival, but the worst slums fueled by the War on Drugs persist.<ref>Arth, Michael E., Democracy and the Common Wealth, Golden Apples Media, 2010, Chapter 17: “My Hometown: a microcosm of America,” pp. 120-139</ref>  
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'''7. Gerrymandering in single-member districts:''' Gerrymandering in single member congressional districts, distorts election results. <ref>Mattingly, Johnathan C, and Christy Vaughn, “Redistricting and the Will of the People, Cornell University, October 29, 2014  arXiv:1410.8796</ref>
  
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'''9. War on the poor and minorities:''' Most drug related offenses and jail time is borne by the poor and minorities, who become further marginalized and more likely to experience unemployment, homelessness, and more incarceration.<ref>Kain, Erik, “The War on Drugs is a War on Minorities and the Poor,” Forbes, June 28, 2011.</ref> The creation of drug slums and glorification of the “gangsta” lifestyle caused by the War on Drugs contributed to the increase in single-parent households among African Americans from 30% in 1971 to 67% by 2009.<ref>Dunlap, Eloise, et. al, “The severely, distressed African American family in the crack era: Empowerment in not enough,” US National library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, J Sociol Soc Welf. 2006; 33(1): 115–139.</ref> This compares to around 75% for non-hispanic, white families. <ref>National KIDS COUNT, datacenter.kidscount.org</ref>
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'''8. Electoral fraud:''' In many cases, votes are not counted or stolen. Voters are discouraged, restricted or otherwise kept from voting. <ref>Campbell, Tracy, ''Deliver the Vote: A History of Election Fraud, An American Political Tradition, 1742-2004'', Carroll & Graf, 2006 ISBN-13:978-0-78671-591-6</ref>
  
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'''10. Erosion of civil liberties:''' Search and seizure laws and arrests/incarceration erode civil rights. <ref>Arth, Michael E., Democracy and the Common Wealth, Golden Apples Media, 2010, Chapter 25: “Prohibition Failed” pp. 231-238</ref> Asset forfeiture laws allow the police to violate the privacy of citizens, and seize property where a crime has been suspected. In many cases, seizures are made even though no drugs are found, or the property owners have nothing to do with the drug use occurring on their property. <ref>Balko, Radley, “The Forfeiture Racket: police and prosecutors won’t give up their license to steal,” reason.com, February 2010,  http://reason.com/archives/2010/01/26/the-forfeiture-racket</ref>
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'''9. Felons and ex-felons are denied voting rights''', which interferes with rehabilitation, disproportionately affects blacks and minorities, and is harmful to society.<ref>Felon Voting, pros and cons. felonvoting.procon.org.</ref>  
  
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'''11. Cost:''' Since 1971, taxpayers have spent over $1 trillion on the War on Drugs, with $51 billion of good money being thrown after bad every year. This does not count the far greater indirect costs to society. <ref>Branson, Richard, “War on drugs a trillion-dollar failure,” CNN, December 7, 2012. http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/06/opinion/branson-end-war-on-drugs/</ref>
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'''10. Voter apathy and disgust:''' Around 60% of eligible voters are presumably so disgusted by some combination of all of the above, they don’t bother to vote, and the other 40% has to choose between the lesser of two evils in single member elections. Turnout of age-eligible citizens in statewide primaries is even worse, averaging less than 15% in 25 statewide primaries in 2014.<ref>Camia, Catalina, “Study: Voter apathy could mean record-low turnout in some states.” USA Today Politics, quoting the results of a study by the Center for the Study of the American Electorate. July 21, 2014.</ref> All three branches of government were at record low approval ratings in June 2014, with the presidency and the supreme court at 29% and 30%, respectively, and Congress at 7%.<ref>McCarthy, Justin, “Americans losing confidence in all branches of U.S. Gov’t,” Gallup. June 30, 2014.</ref>  
  
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'''12. Lure of the forbidden/victimless crime:''' As during alcohol prohibition, when the state tried to tell people what they could not do with their own bodies, people become outraged and flaunt the law. “Al Capone, Scarface, Beanie Sigel, Biggie Smalls and Lucky Luciano. Sound familiar? These are the names of modern ‘gansta’ rappers who, along with other rappers, are channeling the spirit of alcohol prohibition and organized crime.”<ref>Arth, Michael E., Democracy and the Common Wealth, Golden Apples Media, 2010, p. 229, ISBN 978-0-912467-12-2</ref>
 
  
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'''13. Health issues:''' Illegal drugs have no quality control and ingredients are not regulated. One report by the Energy Control found that only 38% of ecstasy pills actually had MDMA, and only 8% of cocaine is pure. <ref>Pardes, Arielle, “This doctor want to provide quality control for your illegal drugs,” VICE, August 22, 2014. http://www.vice.com/read/this-doctor-wants-to-provide-quality-control-for-your-illegal-drugs-821</ref> Hepatitis C and HIV infection rates are high among injecting users. Dealing with any aspect of the drug trade is physically dangerous, quite apart from the health impact of the drugs themselves. Cheap substitutes, like crack cocaine for powder cocaine, or legal painkillers instead of cannabis, can be worse than the preferred drug. <ref>Paige Bierma, M.A, “Cocaine and Crack,” Health Day, March 11, 2014</ref>
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==Solutions:==
  
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'''14. Religious judgement:''' Many feel drug use is evil or immoral and users should be forced by the law to conform to religious or moral beliefs, and be punished when they disobey. Except for a growing number of prominent exceptions, including William F. Buckley, Ron Paul, Grover Norquist, and Glenn Beck, <ref>Conant, Eve, “The conservative case for legalizing pot,” Newsweek, October 25, 2010 conservatives, especially social conservatives, tend to support prohibition.</ref> <ref>Saad, Lydia, “Majority continues to support pot legalization in U.S.” Gallup, November 6, 2014.</ref> According to a 2014 Gallup poll, 73% of liberals supported legalizing marijuana and 31% of conservatives did not. <ref>Gregory, Anthony, “The Right & the Drug War: Conservatives are the last prohibitionists, but that’s changing,” The American Conservative, September 12, 2012.</ref>
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'''1. Replace winner-take-all with ranked choice voting in single-member elections:''' Voters would rank candidates in order of preference instead of voting for a single candidate, thus eliminating “spoiled” votes and allowing votes to be transferred for a majority winner and better representation.<ref>Arth, Michael E., ''Democracy and the Common Wealth'', Chapter 15: “Replace Winner-Take-All,” Golden Apples Media, 2010. pp. 108-117</ref>
  
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'''2. Create multi-member congressional districts:''' Replace gerrymandered, single-member congressional districts with larger multi-member districts with proportional representation and ranked choice voting. Virtually everyone would be represented in every district instead of very low representation with the current system.<ref>Arth, Michael E., ''Democracy and the Common Wealth'', Chapter 15: “Replace Winner-Take-All,” Golden Apples Media, 2010. pp. 108-117</ref> 
  
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===Solutions:===
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'''3. Abolish the Electoral College''' and replace it with direct, ranked choice voting in presidential elections.<ref>Black, Eric, “10 reasons why the Electoral College is a problem,” MinnPost, October 16, 2012</ref>
  
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'''1. End the War on Drugs by repealing drug prohibition.''' Put drugs, alcohol and tobacco into special legal status that includes legalization, taxation, regulation and treatment programs. (Decriminalization is inadequate because it would not affect the criminal supply networks). The quality and dosage should be regulated and tested so buyers know exactly what they are buying and what dangers might be associated with the drugs. <ref>Arth, Michael E., Democracy and the Common Wealth: Breaking the Stranglehold of the Special Interests, Golden Apples Media, 2010, Chapter 25: “Prohibition Failed!,” p. 276.</ref>  
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'''4. Ban private money from electoral politics:''' Replace with publicly financed, highly-regulated campaigns. Create standardized candidate profiles online, requiring all candidates to provide everything voters should know. All citizens without the Internet should be provided with online access and instructed in its use through public libraries. Provide ranked-choice pre-voting of candidates so voters can winnow the field in preparation for publicly funded debates and other access to the candidates.<ref>Arth, Michael E., ''Democracy and the Common Wealth'', Chapter 6: “Take Money Out of Politics,” Golden Apples Media, 2010. pp. 76-85</ref>
  
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'''2. Recognize the recreational, therapeutic and sacramental use of drugs as a basic human right.''' <ref>Walsh, Charlotte (2010) “Drugs and human rights: private palliatives, sacramental freedoms and cognitive liberty,” The International Journal of Human Rights, 14: 3, 425 — 441, First published on: 16 February 2010 (iFirst) DOI: 10.1080/13642980802704270 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13642980802704270 </ref>
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'''5. Discourage influence peddling:''' No person or other entity may offer any politician a bribe, perks, meals, travel, donation, or any other personal incentive. Payments to lobbyists should be so minimal and regulated that it would effectively end the corrupting influence of paid lobbyists and the revolving door in politics. In accordance with the First Amendment, the right to petition the government for redress of grievances, there should be created an easily accessible and free petition process (like [[UNICE global brain project|UNICE]]) for citizens and corporations to make their wishes known.<ref>“Should lobbying be banned from politics?” debate.org. http://www.debate.org/opinions/should-lobbying-be-banned-from-politics</ref> <ref>Arth, Michael E., ''Democracy and the Common Wealth'', Chapter 6: “Take Money Out of Politics,” Golden Apples Media, 2010. pp. 81-82</ref>  
  
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'''3. Give people the right to make their own decisions regarding drugs.''' The vast majority of people will not become drug abusers. Respect for the law will reduce the lure of the forbidden, and build responsible attitudes toward drugs. <ref>Arth, Michael E., Democracy and the Common Wealth: Breaking the Stranglehold of the Special Interests, Golden Apples Media, 2010, Chapter 25: “Prohibition Failed!,” p. 276.</ref>  
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'''6. Protect voting rights:''' No citizen should be denied voting rights, including felons or ex-felons. If the aim of incarceration is about rehabilitation and helping people to rethink their relation to society, then denying voting rights is punitive and has no benefit to society. It also disproportionately affects blacks and minorities. <ref>"Felon Voting, pros and cons," felonvoting.procon.org.</ref>  
  
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'''4. Ban all public or targeted advertising for drugs, alcohol, tobacco and prescription drugs.''' Detailed official and unofficial information would be available online. <ref>Arth, Michael E., Democracy and the Common Wealth: Breaking the Stranglehold of the Special Interests, Golden Apples Media, 2010, Chapter 25: “Prohibition Failed!,” pp. 276-277</ref>
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'''7. A Voting Rights Amendment would resolve all of these issues.''' (See Wiki-UNICE topic: [Proposed Voting Rights Amendment])
  
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'''5. Drugs (including many “prescription drugs”), tobacco, alcohol purchase and use should be regulated with a license''' that anyone 18 or older may obtain. To obtain the drug license, a person must take a course that explains the dangers related to alcohol and various drugs including tobacco. A person may opt to not test for or not include certain drugs or alcohol on their license, particularly if they want to self-regulate troublesome substances. Drug or alcohol-related infractions of the law would require a remedial course and re-licensing.
 
  
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'''6. Tax drugs and alcohol according to their harm and cost to society.''' Dangerous and highly addictive drugs like heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, tobacco and alcohol, for example, should have much higher taxes than drugs of low toxicity that have low or absent addictive properties, such as cannabis and psychedelics. Taxes should be approximately equal to the cost to society related to the substance, including health care and rehabilitation. <ref>Arth, Michael E., Democracy and the Common Wealth: Breaking the Stranglehold of the Special Interests, Golden Apples Media, 2010, Chapter 25: “Prohibition Failed!,” p. 278.</ref> “Date rape” drugs and certain poisons should continue to be illegal. We should have discouraging restrictions on highly addictive drugs that people want to quit anyway. For example, powder cocaine could be available, but someone would have to make crack cocaine on their own. Flavored cigarettes, including menthols, and most of the dangerous additives, should be banned, along with low pH flue-cured tobacco (making cigarette smoke very difficult to fully inhale) and nicotine levels could be restricted. <ref>Proctor, Robert N, “Why ban the sale of cigarettes? The case for abolition,” Tobacco Control, January 17, 2013.</ref> Smoking should also be banned in public and not allowed to be displayed where any minor could see them.
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== References ==
  
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'''7. Treatment:''' Make drugs, alcohol and tobacco a health-related issue with education, licensing, and treatment paid for by taxes on the substances. <ref>Arth, Michael E., Democracy and the Common Wealth, Golden Apples Media, 2010, Chapter 25: “Prohibition Failed!,” p. 276.</ref> Drug use in the Netherlands is considered a health issue and, as a result, has a drug-related death rate that is 15 times lower than in the United States. Afghanistan, which has had the cruel misfortune of being caught up America’s War on Drugs, has a drug-related death rate that is 290 times higher than the Netherlands. <ref>http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/cause-of-death/drug-use/by-country/ (data source: WHO 2011, World Bank, UNESCO, CIA)</ref>
 
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'''8. The U.S. should formally apologize to the world for the harm its policies have caused.''' The Controlled Substances Act of 1970, the mandatory drug sentencing guideline, international agreements in support of the War on Drugs, and all other federal laws prohibiting drugs should be revoked. The Drug Enforcement Agency should be absorbed into the FDA and ATF. <ref>Arth, Michael E., Democracy and the Common Wealth, Golden Apples Media, 2010, Chapter 25: “Prohibition Failed!,” p. 277-278.</ref> All non-violent drug offenders should be pardoned.
 
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== References ==
 
 
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Revision as of 14:36, 13 May 2015

File:UNICE-Universal Network of Intelligent Conscious Entities-image.jpg
UNICE global brain project
Author: Michael E. Arth

Important Note:This Seed Topic may only be edited by the author.[1] Please go to Voting Rights in the U.S. for the collaborative topic on this subject.

Problems:

Summary: There are a wide range of impediments to fair elections, held in place by antiquated, or purposefully inequitable policies.


1. “Winner-take-all” and “first-past-the-post” are terms for the undemocratic plurality voting system passed down from Great Britain to its former colonies. Combined with the presidential system, it forces voters to choose between two factions of a ruling elite, doesn’t require a majority winner, and makes spoilers out of all who dare challenge it. [2]

2. The Electoral College is an inherently undemocratic compromise made to appease slave states at the Constitutional Convention in 1787. It does not allow voters to directly choose their president, warps campaigns, distorts governance, helps suppress parties outside the two-party duopoly, creates spoilers, and does not allow representation according to population, just to name a few of the worst effects.[3] [4]

3. Private money corrupts elections and government: Politicians spend much, if not most, of their their time begging for money[5] Lessing reports that members of Congress spend 2-3 years raising money before they run for office and then spend 3 out of 5 days a week raising money thereafter. and thinking of ways to serve their corporate masters, all the while distracting the people with war-making and emotional, religious or nationalistic appeals. Private campaign spending creates a mud-slinging media circus among disreputable candidates who are forced to sell out to become part of the show. [6]

4. Corruption Perception Index: According to Transparency International, in 2014 the U.S. ranked 17th on the Corruption Perception Index,[7] mostly due to issues related to its electoral system and the politicians produced by it.[8] Estimates on the average “return on investment” for money spent on lobbying and political campaigns range between 600% and 22,000%.[9]

5. Freedom of speech is abridged: According to Reporters Without Borders, the U.S. ranked 49th in world press freedom rankings, behind such countries as Niger, Burkino Faso and Botswana.[10] [11] Privately-owned media receives huge benefits from campaign advertising, and tends to “sell wars, spin elections, and destroy democracy.”[12] Investigative journalism is expendable because it’s not profitable. Big media is so unconcerned about this that it took Comedy Central’s The Daily Show to report that CNN has eliminated its investigative news department.[13]

6. Influence peddling/revolving door: 100,000 paid lobbyists feast like fleas on the body politic in service to themselves and their masters, many of whom are outside the country.[14] Representative-turned-lobbyist Billy Tauzin was paid $11.5 million in 2010 to lobby for the drug industry. [15] The Loeffler Group, headed by former Texas congressman Tom Loeffler, was paid $10.5 million and Qorvis Communications received $60.3 million lobbying for the Saudi government over ten years. [16]

7. Gerrymandering in single-member districts: Gerrymandering in single member congressional districts, distorts election results. [17]

8. Electoral fraud: In many cases, votes are not counted or stolen. Voters are discouraged, restricted or otherwise kept from voting. [18]

9. Felons and ex-felons are denied voting rights, which interferes with rehabilitation, disproportionately affects blacks and minorities, and is harmful to society.[19]

10. Voter apathy and disgust: Around 60% of eligible voters are presumably so disgusted by some combination of all of the above, they don’t bother to vote, and the other 40% has to choose between the lesser of two evils in single member elections. Turnout of age-eligible citizens in statewide primaries is even worse, averaging less than 15% in 25 statewide primaries in 2014.[20] All three branches of government were at record low approval ratings in June 2014, with the presidency and the supreme court at 29% and 30%, respectively, and Congress at 7%.[21]


Solutions:

1. Replace winner-take-all with ranked choice voting in single-member elections: Voters would rank candidates in order of preference instead of voting for a single candidate, thus eliminating “spoiled” votes and allowing votes to be transferred for a majority winner and better representation.[22]

2. Create multi-member congressional districts: Replace gerrymandered, single-member congressional districts with larger multi-member districts with proportional representation and ranked choice voting. Virtually everyone would be represented in every district instead of very low representation with the current system.[23]

3. Abolish the Electoral College and replace it with direct, ranked choice voting in presidential elections.[24]

4. Ban private money from electoral politics: Replace with publicly financed, highly-regulated campaigns. Create standardized candidate profiles online, requiring all candidates to provide everything voters should know. All citizens without the Internet should be provided with online access and instructed in its use through public libraries. Provide ranked-choice pre-voting of candidates so voters can winnow the field in preparation for publicly funded debates and other access to the candidates.[25]

5. Discourage influence peddling: No person or other entity may offer any politician a bribe, perks, meals, travel, donation, or any other personal incentive. Payments to lobbyists should be so minimal and regulated that it would effectively end the corrupting influence of paid lobbyists and the revolving door in politics. In accordance with the First Amendment, the right to petition the government for redress of grievances, there should be created an easily accessible and free petition process (like UNICE) for citizens and corporations to make their wishes known.[26] [27]

6. Protect voting rights: No citizen should be denied voting rights, including felons or ex-felons. If the aim of incarceration is about rehabilitation and helping people to rethink their relation to society, then denying voting rights is punitive and has no benefit to society. It also disproportionately affects blacks and minorities. [28]

7. A Voting Rights Amendment would resolve all of these issues. (See Wiki-UNICE topic: [Proposed Voting Rights Amendment])


References

  1. ↑ The author of the first version of this collaborate topic seed topic, “Voting Rights in the U.S.,” is Michael E. Arth, 2-15-15, released under CC license with attribution at www.UNICE.info. This topic was adapted from his book, Democracy and the Common Wealth: Breaking the Stranglehold of the Special Interests. Anyone may edit this version, subject to the Wikipedia and Wiki-UNICE guidelines
  2. ↑ Arth, Michael E., Democracy and the Common Wealth: Breaking the Stranglehold of the Special Interests. Chapter 15: “Replace Winner-Take-All,” Golden Apples Media, 2010. pp. 108-117.
  3. ↑ Edwards III, George C. “Five myths about the Electoral College.” The Washington Post, November 2, 2012.
  4. ↑ Brodarick, Taylor, “It’s time to abolish The Electoral College,” Forbes, November 4, 2012.
  5. ↑ Carlson, Margaret "Book review: Harvard law professor Lawrence Lessig offers plan to smash culture of money in politics". Bloomberg News, Chicago Tribune. December 26, 2011 Retrieved 2-15-15.
  6. ↑ Arth, Michael E., Democracy and the Common Wealth, Chapter 6: “Take Money Out of Politics,” Golden Apples Media, 2010. pp. 76-85.
  7. ↑ Transparency International, “Corruption Perceptions Index 2014: Results,” http://www.transparency.org/cpi2014/results
  8. ↑ Transparency International, Corruption in the U.S., http://www.transparency.org/country#USA
  9. ↑ Lessig, Lawrence. Republic, Lost: How Money Corrupts Congress -- and a Plan to Stop It., Twelve, 2011, p.117. ISBN 978-0-446-57643-7.
  10. ↑ Greenwald, Glenn, “U.S. drops to 49th in world press freedom rankings worst since Obama became president,” The Intercept, Feb. 12, 2015, [1]
  11. ↑ Reporters Without Borders, 2015 World Press Freedom Index:http://index.rsf.org/#!/index-details
  12. ↑ McChesney, Robert W, and John Nichols, Tragedy and Farce: How the American Media Sell Wars, Spin Elections, and Destroy Democracy, 2005
  13. ↑ The Daily Show, “Investigating Investigative Journalism” http://thedailyshow.cc.com/videos/4d109s/investigating-investigative-journalism
  14. ↑ Lee Fang, March 10, 2014, The Nation, Where Have All the Lobbyists Gone? On paper, the influence-peddling business is drying up. But lobbying money is flooding into Washington, DC, like never before. What’s going on?, Accessed March 21, 2014
  15. ↑ THOMAS B. EDSALL (12-18-2011). "The Trouble With That Revolving Door". The New York Times. December 18, 2011
  16. ↑ Goldberg, Jeffrey, "Fact-Checking Stephen Walt," The Atlantic, December 8, 2010
  17. ↑ Mattingly, Johnathan C, and Christy Vaughn, “Redistricting and the Will of the People, Cornell University, October 29, 2014 arXiv:1410.8796
  18. ↑ Campbell, Tracy, Deliver the Vote: A History of Election Fraud, An American Political Tradition, 1742-2004, Carroll & Graf, 2006 ISBN-13:978-0-78671-591-6
  19. ↑ Felon Voting, pros and cons. felonvoting.procon.org.
  20. ↑ Camia, Catalina, “Study: Voter apathy could mean record-low turnout in some states.” USA Today Politics, quoting the results of a study by the Center for the Study of the American Electorate. July 21, 2014.
  21. ↑ McCarthy, Justin, “Americans losing confidence in all branches of U.S. Gov’t,” Gallup. June 30, 2014.
  22. ↑ Arth, Michael E., Democracy and the Common Wealth, Chapter 15: “Replace Winner-Take-All,” Golden Apples Media, 2010. pp. 108-117
  23. ↑ Arth, Michael E., Democracy and the Common Wealth, Chapter 15: “Replace Winner-Take-All,” Golden Apples Media, 2010. pp. 108-117
  24. ↑ Black, Eric, “10 reasons why the Electoral College is a problem,” MinnPost, October 16, 2012
  25. ↑ Arth, Michael E., Democracy and the Common Wealth, Chapter 6: “Take Money Out of Politics,” Golden Apples Media, 2010. pp. 76-85
  26. ↑ “Should lobbying be banned from politics?” debate.org. http://www.debate.org/opinions/should-lobbying-be-banned-from-politics
  27. ↑ Arth, Michael E., Democracy and the Common Wealth, Chapter 6: “Take Money Out of Politics,” Golden Apples Media, 2010. pp. 81-82
  28. ↑ "Felon Voting, pros and cons," felonvoting.procon.org.
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