The Election is OVER!

Hello my loyal subjects! I have returned to blog about the election in the United States. As you all know by now, nominee Barrack Obama won. I've been asked to blog my feelings about the election, as well as my hopes, my fears, and some questions I have.

As far as my feelings go, I'm not sure what to think. Throughout the process I was kinda indifferent. I didn't really like or dislike either candidate. I was kind of leaning towards McCain though. Then throughout the election coverage is was really confusing and frustrating how they would call states for one candidate or the other when only 50% or less of the votes were in. Even when the margin between candidates was only 1-3 percentage points. When I found out that McCain had lost I was kind of disappointed, but then once I realized that Obama was the president I became very very nervous. I don't know why, I never really had anything against him but I was unbelievably nervous. The speeches they both gave were very good. McCain was very humble and supportive of Obama. I never heard Obama's speech that night, but after reading it the next morning I became excited for what may be to come as well as feeling proud for Obama and all he endured. 

My hopes for this new presidency and the country are not very complex or descriptive. But I hope that the country will be able to come together and put differences aside. Whether or not you voted for Obama it is important for the president to have the respect and support of the country. I hope the economy will recover before it gets any worse and especially before it gets as bad as the great depression.  I hope the country will remain safe from outside threats and that the wars in the middle east will be resolved. I hope the people in the country will not lose any and all moral values they may hold. I hope things do not get worse, but only better. 

My fears for the coming years is not a long list either. I fear that people will not support the president and that the country will remain divided. I fear the economy will get worse and that more people will lose jobs and become financially unstable. I fear that things are only going to get worse.

I wonder what will happen. How this will all end. Will people regret their decision to elect him? Will he be voted a second term?  With all the checks that are put in place, does it really matter who we elect?

 Lots to think about. What do my peasants think? 

Until next time,

Princess

Electoral College

Hello, princess here! Sorry it has been so long since my last post, I was busy planning the Autumn Ball! Anyways, lately in the process of learning about Democracy I was put to the task of uncovering information on the Electoral College. This is a system that the United States uses when voting for the president. It originated way back during the Roman Empire, back then they had princes from the various German states vote. So here is what I discovered, hope you that cannot afford education can learn from my brilliance!

 

Electoral College!

 

When the constitution of the United States was created, many of the founding fathers disagreed with how we would select a president. Some thought it would be best if the congress chose, while others thought that it should be the decision of the whole entire country. Those who believed that the congress should decide feared that the uninformed people would simply vote for someone running that lived in their state, without knowing who they were actually voting for and why. They also believed that a direct vote would give the larger states an unfair advantage over the smaller states. Those that wanted a direct election with the entire country voting believed that if the U.S. were to be a true democracy, then this would have to happen. In the end, to dilute the power of the larger states and even it out with the smaller states they compromised on using an electoral college.

 

The Electoral College works like this, each state is given a select number of delegates. These delegates are chosen individually by each state using the same process in which they pick party delegates. The number of delegates given depends on the population of the state. For example California has more delegates than Wyoming because they have a much larger population. Each state has the same number of delegates as they do seats in Congress. When Election Day rolls around and everyone votes, the delegates’ then vote based on the popular vote of their state. But they are not required by law to do so. After the delegates have voted, the winner of those votes receives all the electoral votes that the state has. The only states that are an exception to this are Wyoming, South Dakota, and Rhode Island. These states divide their electoral votes depending on the outcome of their election. There are a total of 538 electoral votes; in order to win you need the majority with 270 votes.

 

The election of 2000 brought up many concerns with the Electoral College. The winner of the country’s popular vote was Al Gore. However George Bush ended up winning because he won the most Electoral College votes. While I am glad Bush won I think that this ridiculous, in order for this to have happened, the electoral voters had to have voted upon personal opinion as opposed to the way their state voted. This is a poor display of integrity. This has happened more then once in U.S. history. It first happened to John Quincy Adams in 1824, then Samuel J. Tilden in 1876, Grover Cleveland in 1888, and most recently with Al Gore in 2000. Each time a problem like this occurs people try to abolish the Electoral College system, many times a bill has risen in congress about it, but it never gets far. Mark A. Siegel, a senior fellow at American University’s Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies has stated that, “Wyoming is not going to get rid of a system that increases the voice of Wyoming by 700 percent.”

 

When I first think about this system I think it is stupid and pointless. It made sense back when it was set up, but now more people are educated and prepared to vote. Sure there are still those that vote out of prejudice or personal preference, but as a whole those few votes don’t hold much say. But then the more I think about the Electoral College, the more I see its value. For example it gives the minority a voice and chance to contribute. But then back on the other hand, why should we give the minority the ability to rule over the majority? At this moment I think the U.S. should get rid of this system, but knowing myself in another hour of so I will think we should keep it.

For some classic school house rock method of learning check out the video below.

 

So what have you peasants learned? What do you think about the Electoral College? Feel free to discuss it in the comments.

 

Princess

State of Nature

This past week we princesses learned about the state of nature. The following will explain that which I had learned...

John Locke explained that all humans have the right to three things in the state of nature. Those things being Life, Liberty, and Property. He used these ideas to figure out the purpose of government. That purpose being that by letting the state of nature run its course, those who were smarter or stronger then others would abuse their rights by trying to rule over those that were weaker. Thus taking the rights away from the weaker and leaving them to fend for themselves and try to protect their rights. Therefore the purpose of government was to protect the rights of the weaker and more feeble minded people. In order for this to work out people had to consent to being governed and agree to what Locke referred to as a "social contract." This contract gave government the right to suppress a few terms of everyone's unalienable rights in order to keep them safe. It gave government the right to take rights away from those abusing the rights of others. So basically the people gave a little in order to get something in return, which in this case was security. If the governed do not give consent for the government to do so, then government cannot exist because they themselves would be abusing other peoples rights by taking them away from others that are abusing them as well.

When the Declaration of Independence was created those concepts were taken and used to help create the document. Within the document it was stated that...

"We hold these truths to be self evident, that all Men are created equal, and that they are endowed by their Creator with a certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness - That to secure these Rights; Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new Government..."

I interpret these to mean the following...

1. All men are created equal - 

This means that no one is born to dominate over another. All human beings are created the same and therefore born with and deserve the same rights or treatment from others.

2. People have rights that are unalienable - 

This means that these rights that everyone is born with can never be taken away. That no matter what happens throughout a persons life these rights will always be carried with them and cannot be denied due to any social, racial, or class, associated reasoning. 

3. These rights being Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness - 

This means that first off everyone has the right to live. No one can go around killing people and taking this right from others. Having the right to Liberty means that people are free to make their own choices and decisions without having to do what others tell them to. The right to the Pursuit of Happiness means that people can do what ever it is that makes them happy and are free to seek after these things. 

4. Government is created to secure these rights - 

This meant that government is put in place so that people will feel safe and as though their rights are being protected. This also meaning that is it the governments duty to get rid of those who are abusing these rights and taking them from others.

5. The people have the right to alter or abolish their government if it becomes destructive of the purpose in which it was created- 

This means that if at any time the governed feel their rights are being abused by the government or their rights are no longer being protected. That they have the right to get rid of the problem. Whether it be by abolishing the government completely and creating a new one, or by simply fixing a few problems. 

I, princess believes that it is very important to protect everyone's rights. I also believe that the rights in which John Locke described as being unalienable are very accurate. I did however begin to think  about his idea of life being something everyone felt the need to protect.  I began to wonder about those who choose to commit suicide. What makes people turn against what is considered to be a basic human instinct? I also thought about abortion. At what point are these rights given? Do unborn children already have these rights? What do you my subjects think? 

~Princess