Refuting the Opposition: Electoral College

Welcome to the first edition of Refuting the Opposition: why actually take a stand on an issue when you can just prove why other people are wrong instead? Today, we'll delve further into my favorite thing to get worked up about: the Electoral College! Large chunks of this post have been taken straight from an argumentation essay I wrote for my A.P. English Language class this year, so that's why it sounds professional and somewhat organized. Each paragraph will begin with an argument in favor of the Electoral College in italics and then I will proceed to refute the heck out of it and it'll be really fun. For me. And maybe for you.

“The Electoral College provides clear winners in tight races." This argument in favor of the Electoral College is backed up by the 2012 election and to a greater degree the 1980 election where Reagan barely won the popular vote (50.7%) but dominated in the electoral vote. But on the other hand, when the Electoral College doesn't work things get messy real fast. It is a fair assertion, however, that a popular vote system could drag out the election process - if we’re not careful. There would have to be clear rules concerning recounts and more importantly the initial tallying of votes, perhaps a nationally standardized vote-counting procedure to eliminate doubt.

"The electoral system forces candidates to address rural issues because of swing states such as Iowa and Colorado. With a pure popular vote, a candidate could easily win with only urban and suburban support, ignoring the important interests of farmers to the American economy." But these states would still have influence in Congress that is disproportionate to the small size of their population. Their issues are important, and they will not be ignored past the campaigning phase, if they will even be ignored at all. A president can do little without the support of Congress, which is made up of many representatives from rural states who will keep the interests of farmers on stage. A popular vote would allow the majority of Americans to have a voice more powerful than majorities in separate states.

"The Electoral College maintains Constitutional balances by requiring candidates to win majorities of the popular vote in individual states, while simultaneously requiring at least 270 votes nationwide.” But which majority trumps which? Why are states more important than the majority of Americans? A pure popular vote would actually further divide the power of the electorate, allowing a majority different from the one that elects Congress to elect the president. The Electoral College divides the country into red states and blue states, and politicians often use these phrases demeaningly, as if it says something about the moral character of the people living in these states. When the Constitution was written, loyalty lied undoubtedly with the states over the country, as shown by America’s first government, the extremely decentralized nation outlined by the Articles of Confederation. Today this has changed; citizens identify with America more than with individual states. The Electoral College is the most prominent source of division among states that remains. A popular vote would better portray America’s diverse political ideology instead of the false view that the people within each state all have the same views.

"The Maine and Nebraska alternative would be better than a pure popular vote." These states assign one vote to the winner of each Congressional district and the remaining two votes to the winner of the popular vote within the state. This goes against the traditional winner-take-all process and many Republicans currently support it - because Romney would have won by a landslide if electoral votes had been assigned by district. This system should not be adopted in every state. Maine and Nebraska are solid blue and red states respectively, so there’s little controversy and the votes don’t split between candidates. But in swing-states such as Ohio and Florida there would be a whole new level of gerrymandering with higher stakes: the presidency. Additionally, elections would be close not only in the popular vote, but also in the electoral vote, probably leading to more re-counts. If this was the national system, it’d make just as much sense to let Congress elect the president, since the two parties would be split up by district accordingly. This process would also create a few all-important swing districts, putting the power to decide the president in the hands of even fewer voters.

"A popular vote will lead to candidates pandering to large urban centers." True, but at least that’s a larger and more variable block of America than the current focus of pandering: the elusive undecided voter in Ohio.

Well, that's it for today's Refuting the Opposition. Join me next time when I explain why someone else is wrong.

Life of Pi is ten bazillion times better than Argo

I watched Argo this past week and I thought it was fine. It's an amazing story, considering it's true, and it was fairly well done but it didn't feel Best Picture Good in the way that some Best Picture winners do. But I wasn't too disturbed that it won in general; I mean, it glorified Hollywood, of course it's going to win.

Until a couple days later when I watched Life of Pi.

And now I'm just SO mad that Argo won that I have to blog about it to process my anger.

I tried to read the Life of Pi book a few years ago, but I never got into it. I didn't even get as far as the ship wreck. Of course, now I'm going to go back and read it, but I knew very little about the story going into the movie.

While I usually don't have a problem spoiling stuff for others, I'm not going to do that here. I'm really surprised that people aren't going around saying how this story ends because it's a little... shocking. And amazing. And I can't stop thinking about it. And crying.

While I apparently found the beginning of the book slow, the beginning of the movie is plenty entertaining and really quite funny. And then the ship wreck happens and he ends up on the lifeboat. With drugged, seasick, bickering animals.

The visuals are, of course, stunning, and the line between what's real and what's not is blurred perfectly. The movie stars Suraj Sharma as Pi, and he's an amazing actor and a good looking dude.

See? Very good looking.

The cast also includes Irrfan Khan and Tabu, two actors who are in pretty much every British/American movie that needs Indian people to be in it.

Maybe I'd be a little less emotionally distraught right now if I had finished the book and knew the story. Because the story is actually amazing. I need to start reading analyzations and interpretations of it because I can tell it's packed with symbols, but I haven't figured out very many of them.

Life of Pi is simply epic. There are great performances, breathtaking cinematography, and it packs an emotional wallop. It's the kind of film that sticks with you. Argo is not this way.

I would like Argo a lot more if it hadn't STOLEN Best Picture from Life of Pi. But the acting is nothing impressive, and it seems the writers thought about including some character revelations, but only dipped a toe into that pool. And then tried to end the movie with warm fuzzies about this guy's family. And I'm like, soooo I'm supposed to care?

Life of Pi leads to deep conversations about life and God and self. It's truly spectacular and is the epitome of how affecting a film can be. Isn't that what the Academy should honor?

Flags of the World: Hits and Misses, Part II

Let's dive right in, shall we? Here are

Some of the World's Worst Flags - in no particular order. These flags are either ugly, misrepresent their country, or... well you'll see. For the World's Best Flags, click here. Once again I will enhance your blog reading experience by providing some basic information on each of these countries.

There's no way around it. Grenada's flag is a hot mess. It's just ugly. Grenada is located in the Caribbean and its capital is Saint George's. Its official language is English. And the people there have poor color-coordination skills.

Mozambique's flag looks like a violent uprising just waiting to happen. Does not make me want to visit Mozambique. I mean, it's got a gun, a book and either a hoe or an ax on it... Sketchy. Mozambique is located on the southern Indian Ocean coast of Africa, and its capital is Maputo. Its official language is Portuguese and it borders several countries including South Africa and Tanzania. And I heard that its flag commemorates some sort of revolution. So that's fun.

Indonesia’s flag says little beyond, “We’re Poland, but upside-down.” Also the same flag as Monaco, but slightly different dimensions. If you have the same flag as another country, you’re doing it wrong. Indonesia is comprised of many islands in south-eastern Asia. Its capital is Jakarta and its official language is Bahasa Indonesia.

The flag of Belize says to me, "We're a country of multi-racial people... with clubs." It sort of exchanges its message of diversity for an image of racial tension. Belize is a central American country that borders Mexico, Guatemala and the Gulf of Mexico. Its capital is Belmopan and its official language is English. And it occurs to me that the clubs might have some significance, but you can do that research independently if you care at all.

I actually do rather enjoy the Sri Lankan flag, but I also feel that putting a giant knife on your country's flag is bad luck. Sri Lanka is an island just off the coast of India. Its capital is Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte (kind of a mouthful) and its official language is Sinhala. The people there like knives, apparently.

Again, the flag of Saudi Arabia is visually quite nice, but come on... a sword? Do weapons have to be so prominent on national symbols? But at least there's nothing aesthetically wrong with the design... (I'm looking at you, Grenada.) Saudi Arabia is a country in south-western Asia. Its capital is Riyadh and its official language is Arabic. It borders a ton of countries, including Iraq, Kuwait and United Arab Emirates (that's the one with Dubai).

No offense to any of these countries, obviously, just to their flag designer. Who is probably dead, so it doesn't really matter. This has been fun and maybe you even learned something, which would be truly amazing on this disorganized mess of a blog. Join me next time when I write about something else that doesn't matter! 

Flags of the World: Hits and Misses, Part I

Being a junior in high school I'm in the beginning of the wonderfully stressful college application process. The other week I toured Macalester and felt very much at home as soon as I saw all the dozens of national flags hanging in the dining hall.

I sort of have a thing for flags. As I walked around with my mom, I was naming them as I passed, muttering to myself, "Sri Lanka... Saint Lucia... Trinidad and Tobago... Vietnam." I think it began when I made this drawing:

It's Europe (obviously) with the flag of each country within its borders.
Done with colored pencils, water colors and sharpie. Like a boss.
By "boss" I mean geography nerd.

 Since that time, I have memorized the flags of many countries. (I'd conservatively guess 100, but I'd egotistically guess 175.) In doing so, I have come to judge each of these countries I've never set foot in (apart from USA, obviously, Canada and the Bahamas) based solely on their primary national symbol. Let the judgement fest commence. Here are my picks for best flags. (Worst flags in a separate post.)

Some of the World's Best Flags - in no particular order, and I tried to pick the interesting ones that people might not be familiar with. I'll include some basic information on each country so this post has some worth.

Kazakhstan's flag has two great colors and a better design. I just like looking at it. Kazakhstan is located in western Asia and its capital is Astana. It borders Russia, China, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. It is the largest of the "stans" and its primary language is Kazakh. Don't you love learning?!

Nepal earned itself one of the most recognizable flags by going with a shape other than a rectangle. Bold choice. Nepal is located in the Himalayan region of Asia, bordering China and India. Its capital is Kathmandu and its official language is Nepali.

Swaziland's flag just kind of makes me want to go to Swaziland. It's so cool and tribal looking. Swaziland is a tiny little African country wedged between South Africa and Mozambique. They speak English and Swati. Its capital is Mbabane. And to clarify, you probably do not want to vacation here, assuming it was featured in a video at Feed My Starving Children when I volunteered there a week or two ago. But lovely flag, really.

Albania's flag is just super badass, what with that crazy, two-headed, badass bird thing. It makes me understand why hit men in movies are always Albanians. Albania is an eastern European country where Albanian is spoken. Surprise, surprise. Its capital is Tirana and it borders Greece, Macedonia and Montenegro (whose flag always features a crazy, two-headed, badass bird thing, but is less in-your-face about it).

Kiribati's flag is befitting an island nation and it's just really beautiful. Kiribati is an archipelago located in the Pacific Ocean. Its capital is Tarawa and its official language is English. I imagine the weather is lovely there this time of year. And every time of year. But I did no research to back this up, except for staring at its flag longingly.

Antigua and Barbuda’s is similar to Kiribati’s but more geometric and probably looks better on tee-shirts. It’s certainly easier to draw. (I got this picture off the CIA website, which sketches me out a bit.) Antigua and Barbuda are each an island in the Caribbean that together constitute this tiny country. Its capital is Saint John's and its official language is English. And apparently the CIA is keeping tabs on it.

Papua New Guinea’s flag also has a bird (see a pattern?) but in this case it’s the raggiana bird of paradise. Sweet. Papua New Guinea is located in Oceania, just north of Australia. Its capital is Port Moresby and its primary language is Tok Pisin. I think I remember hearing that this country has the highest concentration of different languages on earth. Whether or not that's actually true, there is a huge diversity of languages spoken here.

The flag of Seychelles is colorful and different from other flags (trust me; I would know) and I'm just generally a fan. Seychelles is yet another island nation, located off the east coast of Africa (a bit north of Madagascar). Its capital is Victoria and its official language is English. Island nations always have the best flags and this one looks especially great blowing in the wind. (From what I can tell from Google  Images, not to be confused with real life experience.)



      

The flag of Barbados has a trident on it. Enough said. Barbados is a tiny Caribbean island whose capital is Bridgetown and official language is English. And something about tridents, I presume.



See this post for some of the worst flags.