With so much hot air, on
mainstream airtime, about the results of the US elections, few realise that it is
traditionally only half the population who actually cast a vote, so any
candidate without a landslide victory always gains office with the consent of about
a quarter of the population, like Mr Trump has now done.
Some 25% of voters really
vote for one candidate, 25% for the other candidate, and around 50% vote for “Nobody”.
They are supposedly just sitting at home, reading or playing baseball, and only
occasionally are they called the “silent majority”. Well, yes, they're probably silently
thinking that no one is good enough for them, so that’s why they won’t come out
and cast a ballot. Politicians don't like that, but they might start listening when turnout slips below the dreaded 50% line. Then what excuse will we have?
US turnout in the 2012 presidential election was 53.6%, based on 129.1 million votes cast and an estimated voting-age
population of just under 241 million people. In the aftermath of the recent elections, smart people will do their
homework and check out the current 2016 voting-age population and the number of
votes actually cast to November 8. And you’ll find that it’s “business as
usual” and the trend continues: US presidents never win by any kind of true majority.
They are mostly elected with the ballots of a quarter or less of the population (obviating the mechanism of the electoral college).
Nevertheless, this
situation is dangerous for true democracy, and it was addressed before
the elections by (one of) the world’s greatest “thinkers” – an Indian mystic whom I am following. In
a real lesson on democracy, here’s what he told an audience in San Jose, CA. No
one should miss this.
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