I Hate Elections

I hate elections.  I know they are important, and I am always an election judge - but I hate the things.  I've been thinking about this - why does this process disturb me so much?  Well - it's because of all the idiots out there that do not agree with me.  How can they be that stupid!  If they took a little bit of effort, they would understand the facts and agree with me - but they don't!  And these ads - they are unbelievably stupid.  Who would ever believe the things they are saying.  If they are not outright lies - they are totally misleading. What a waste of time and money.

And the negative ads drive me berzerk.  Tell me what YOU think, what YOU stand for - not what you think the other guy is doing wrong.  That is the easiest type of criticism to make.  Give us a few ideas supportive of the common good - even if it is not going to HURT the other candidate!  We all might actually learn something.

The FAST Brain is the Problem
I have been reading the book, Thinking, Fast and Slow, and it gave me a bit of understanding about how people make decisions.  A few millennia of evolution have tuned our "fast" brain to make instant decisions.  We go with our gut, because it protected us when the enemy appeared, or things just did not seem right.  But our "slow" brain takes a lot of time and energy, and we generally do not use it much without some great effort. Turns out, MOST people are not making "rational" decisions most of the time, including me.  We are making emotional ones - gut calls.  And that is what screws things up with elections.  And the people we elect are the same.  They are not making good, rational decisions - they are doing gut calls virtually all the time.  And economics is the same - people make lousy decisions all the time.  There has to be a way to fix this!

Our Fast Brain Works Well - for some things.
The thing is, our "fast" brain is not bad or broken or evil, or anything.  It is a wonderfully tuned and sophisticated gadget for what it does well.  For example, some of the finest things in our lives come from the fact that we make emotional, gut calls, that use our fast brain very, very well.  When I met my wife, my fast brain told me immediately that I loved her.  When I met my children for the first time - the same thing happened.  And it worked even better for grandchildren.  I love them all - how could you not?  And my fast brain would protect them all - in an instant.  I don't need to think about it - I can't even think about it.  It's not rational - it just is.  Music, art, architecture - it is not a rational process.

For Others - not so well.
And when we make election decisions, the same type of thing goes on.  I immediately LIKE this person, or I don't.  I can work on the rationale for that immediate like or dislike, but most of the time, most of us just work to explain that first gut call.  If I learn things that seem to be counter to that gut instinct, I discount them.  If I hear things that support it, I tend to believe them uncritically.  That is simply how things work - it is not broken - it is just not designed to select political leaders in a complex world.  It is better designed to select leaders who will defend us in the upcoming battle!  We want the big strong guy who can swing a club.  For example, in the book cited above, the authors describe an experiment where people are shown pictures of candidates running for office, and they are asked which one they think won the election.  The pictures appear rapidly - seconds or less.  The people select the actual winner of the election with 70% accuracy - based solely on their picture. What tends to win is a square jaw, and a confident smile.  We want that guy who can beat those other people!  Period.  That is the fast brain talking.

For Elections?
But elections should NOT be beauty contests, or contests to select the strongest face, the most confident person.  They should not be decided by public spectacle like debates or five minute photo ops.  They should not go to the one with the biggest or most signs - Lord help me.  They should be about the issues, about problems and complex things that take a lot of effort to determine.  But that requires our slow brain to kick into gear - and it is too much work most of the time.  We go with what we like, what we are comfortable with, with our peers, our co-workers, the crowd around us.  Making a truly independent decision is a lot of work, and we rarely can get our head around that much work.

Election Example
I was an election judge for the primary.  A woman got her ballot from me.  I explained that she can only vote in one party, and she went to fill out the ballot.  She brings her ballot to the voting machine - and it is rejected.  She brings it back and asks what is wrong.  Well, she voted for ALL of the Republican candidates.  I tell her she has to choose ONE in each race.  OH, she says, and seems confused.  She does not know any of them.  She asks me which ones are the endorsed candidates - I inform her that I cannot tell her that.  I am a non partisan election judge.  I cannot tell her how to vote, or even tell her who the endorsed candidates are.  And, if it were just up to me, I would personally prefer that she not vote, thank you very much.  If she is that uninformed, we would be better off if she sits this one out.  But I can't tell her that.  Many people vote a straight party ticket, with no idea of who the people are that are running, or what the issues are.  They seem confused when we tell them that city and county races do not have any party designation.  They do not know what to do.  I would like to tell them to simply NOT vote for those - but they feel compelled to somehow select a candidate from their ignorance, so that they are doing their civic duty.

Politicians Too
And the politicians are no help.  They are just as irrational.  They are all fighting to be king of the hill - to defeat the other guy.  Nowadays they regularly lie, cheat and steal to get elected - and no one seems to care.  They can put out any untruth they want - and even when it is detected and pointed out - no one cares!  One of our recent presidential candidates has been caught lying numerous times - with absolutely no impact on his popularity.  What's with that?!  No one seems to be worried about the thing we used to call "the common good".  They just want to beat the other one - at all costs. One of our local US Representatives has won the "pants on fire" award numerous times - but she continues to be re-elected - 8 terms now.

Once elected, our representatives are not even polite or civil to one another.  They never talk. They never work together to solve a problem.  They do not even sit near each other!  They seem focused on making the other party look bad.

There Must Be a Better Way.
We are intelligent beings in part of our brain.  Can't we come up with a better system than this one?
What about the following ideas?

Citizenshp test?
Driving a car - owning a gun - those should have a competency test.  Why not voting?  Instead of a photo id, how about a "secret" civics question on the ballot?  The hard part is in the details!  How do we keep it from being discriminatory?  How many years is a term in the US Senate?  In the State Senate - in normal years?  How many justices sit on the U.S. Supreme Court?  Who gets to be President if both the President and Vice President are not able to serve?  Who actually elects the President - the people, or the electoral college, the House or the Senate?  What happens if the electoral college is a tie!  Who selects the president then?  What percentage of the U.S. budget goes to foreign aid?  To defense?

What do you think?  If you don't get the multiple choice answer right, your vote does not count!  Sorry.

Indirect elections?  
When we started out with this democracy stuff, not everyone had a vote!  You had to own land - and be male!  Towns were small - most voters knew the local candidates personally.  We could adopt something similar.  We could have small groups - precincts - who meet a few times early in the year.  They would have some education agenda, and be open to candidates who want to be elected.  After they meet a few times, they choose ONE of their members to go to the next tier.  That group meets a few times, and they choose ONE member, and so on.   Think about it - people voting for people they actually know and meet.  We could elect a city council at one tier up, I think.  Our state reps at 3 tiers max.  And maybe 4 for US House and Senate.  We could let the popular vote go for Governor and President.  How much harm can they do anyway!?

And recall would be as simple as a 2/3rd majority of the group that selected you. It might be the death of political parties - and wouldn't that be nice. It would sure put a dent in advertising.  No one is going to advertise to persuade a group of 30 to 50 people that they could meet with once a month!  They'll just TALK to them - such an idea!  And the group might just treat each other civilly, once they get to know each other.  These are your neighbors - not your enemies.  We're all in this together!

OPT IN is automatic.
Another thing, since we know that people do not make real rational decisions - make it easier on them.  Make the default the right thing to do as decided by some impartial, educated, reasonable panel.  For example, we do not let people choose whether or not to support Social Security or Medicare - they have to take part - otherwise we are all going to be picking them up off the street. Same for motorcycle helmets, air bags, etc.  You cannot save money on your car by buying one with no air bags or seat belts.  It costs the rest of us too much when you show up in the emergency room and we all pick up the cost.

Forced Civility?
What about making it a crime to be caught lying in a political campaign?  With required jail time - no plea deals!

We could make it a requirement that elected members of Congress and state legislatures have to spend a WEEK in the same room getting to know each other and their beliefs and families?  Research has shown that people who really get to know each other have a tough time trying to hurt each other - even if they disagree.  See M. Scott Peck, A Different Drum, for thoughts on that.

Your thoughts?
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Added 2016.07.24

For just a bit more on this topic, it is worth reading this piece:
https://georgelakoff.com/2016/07/23/understanding-trump-2/

This author, George Lakoff, has written a fine little book - Don't Think of an Elephant. It's about how our brain works, and how we can use that to persuade people by focusing on the 98?% of the brain that is not really THINKING. He applies his research to Donald Trump - and even provides a few ideas on how to counter this "mind control". Hopefully a few other people besides The Donald will figure out how to do this. So far advertisers and Trump and Fox News seem to be the only ones that grasp this. Say it, say it again, say it loud,yell it - it doesn't have to be true or real - just a lot and loud.  And NEVER mention the other side - their name, their ideas - NADA. Focus on values, positives, future.

Got that? Let me know how you are applying it, ok?