Thursday 27 December 2012

Proportional representation is shared representation

Government is a requirement for peace and free markets. Without government there can be no property rights because by definition to have property requires that there is consent. And to have consent means that there must be a single authoritarian arbiter who decides who owns what. Without a government there can be no property rights and so to have peace requires government. Since we require government it is better to have democracy but if we have fptp this means that (eventually) voters will have only two parties to choose from. This is not good for anyone. We need government but we also need to share power otherwise the problem of only having two parties will present itself. Without pr there will only be two parties which is not good for anyone. It is better to ensure that voters can gain representation whichever party they support. This means that we share power with each other rather than enable a two-party system to emerge. Pr is how we protect ourselves against the two-party system. It is better to have democracy and share power with each other than allow the two main parties to take control. It is better to give the power to the people than to allow it to rest with the two big parties. Only parties in receipt of tactical votes have something to fear from pr but if people are voting for you tactically it is better to let them be free and vote for whomever they like. It is better to have pr than to gain power via tactical voting.

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