Wednesday 24 July 2013

Anarchists do not prefer fptp to pr

It is consistent for anarchists to prefer a proportional voting system to first past the post. The reason for this is that with pr voters have more choice and since democracy is to protect the people from the government this means less government. With fptp we can be almost certain that a two-party system will emerge... this means that fptp is helpful to those parties only and there is no reason for someone who supports neither of the two main parties to be supportive of fptp. Fptp favours the two main parties and - in a closed system - this means that it is detrimental to the rest of the public. Supporters of the two main parties benefit from fptp but no one else. Anarchists (who support neither of the main parties) must prefer pr because at least they can choose a party which is closer to their beliefs. There is no reason to think that an anarchist is served by less democracy and less choice. Democracy is bad for the state. Anarchists do not like the state and so anarchists like democracy. What is bad for the state is good for anarchists and so anarchists like democracy and prefer pr to fptp because it is more democratic. Someone who prefers fptp to pr is not an anarchist.

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