Speaking of election day, the NYT, November 3 has a front page story that says in part:
"Bored, Dispirited, Disgusted, Most Won't Vote"
By Dirk Johnson
....For all the handicapping about the races between Democrats and Republicans on Tuesday, there is little doubt what most Americans will effectively choose: none of the above.
It is a virtual certainty that fewer than half of all eligible voters will visit the polls on Tuesday; some political analysts say the number could plummet to about one-third."
________ Charles: It is not just the current election. MOST OF THE PEOPLE DO NOT VOTE MOST OF THE TIME. This has been the case for quite a while now. The largest turnouts are for Presidential elections and that is barely 50%. Other elections are less.
It seems to me a reasonable interpretation of this to say that the MAJORITY are saying the electoral system does not work. It is common for some people to decry those who don't vote as irresponsible. There is some truth to this. But what doesn't get emphasized enough is that by the "democratic" system , the majority "rules" , and by this standard the American voting system itself has been ruled as a failure.
The American political system is in crisis and doesn't admit it.
Charles Brown
Detroit
>>> Paul Henry Rosenberg <rad at gte.net> 11/03 9:47 AM >>>
Louis Proyect wrote:
> Speaking of Chris, he asked me to circulate this:
>
> It gives me great pleasure to provide
> information on a fascinating new book dealing with
> Ayn Rand.
>
> On February 2, 1999, on the 94th anniversary
> of Ayn Rand's birth, Penn State Press will release a
> landmark anthology, co-edited by Mimi Reisel
> Gladstein and Chris Matthew Sciabarra (me), entitled:
> FEMINIST INTERPRETATIONS OF AYN RAND
>
> The Feminist book is part of the Penn State
> Press series, "Re-Reading the Canon." Recent and
> forthcoming volumes in the series include those
> devoted to Aristotle, Nietzsche, and Descartes. The
> inclusion of Rand in this series should erase any
> doubts that her work is legitimate and worthy of
> engagement, examination, and critique.
Thanks, Lou. We all need a good laugh on election day.
-- Paul Rosenberg Reason and Democracy rad at gte.net
"Let's put the information BACK into the information age!"