Another post that’s short and to the point.
The system of representation in the US is broken.
It doesn’t represent people fairly.
Not even close!
It’s pretty simple, really.
A quick internet search on the population of the states in the US generates a simple piece of data that everyone can understand.
As of January 2023, the population of the US was ~ 384.4 million people.
The population of the lowest 25 states totalled ~ 53.3 million people.
That translates into 14% of the total population in those 25 states.
So 14% of the people in the US have 50 senators and the other 86% have 50 senators.
That means that citizens of the states with only 14% of the population have more than 6 times the representational voting power in the Senate than the citizens of states that have 86% of the population.
That’s not fair.
I could go into even finer detail when it comes to the House of Representatives and I shudder to think what those figures would reveal, but I think this ratio makes the argument quite nicely.
The system is broken and needs to be completely reimagined so that all the citizens of the US are given equal representation in Congress.
Do I have a solution?
No.
Because that requires many conversations and negotiations but I think if we put our minds and hearts together, we can come up with a Congressional system that fairly represents everyone.
But I do have one urgent demand on that new system.
That it makes gerrymandering illegal and that state electoral districts are designated by impartial panels of citizens. And maybe the panel members don’t even reside in the state they are sectoring.
Of course, I’m dreaming here. I know that.
But nothing happens unless you start advocating for your dreams of a better country and a better world.
And that’s always a good road to travel on.
Until next time,
Rich