Comments by "XSportSeeker" (@XSpImmaLion) on "The One Where I Get Slightly Political And Lose Half My Subscribers" video.

  1. Good subject! Down here, while I do think we have an election system that is more straightforward, it also falls into similar traps and is far from perfect due to side effects it has, plus cultural problems. Of course, personal opinion. Though to be fair, I don't think there will ever be a "perfect" election system ever... it's just pros vs cons all the way. In Brazil, voting is obligatory (though there are several ways to justify not voting), direct (you vote directly on candidates), two-round system. It's framed as a civic duty. But, as Brazil often mirrors the US and UK, polarization and cult of personality are still here. We might have multiple candidates from multiple parties running up, but with polarization and cult of personality, it effectively became a two party system down here too - with tactics from both sides so comically mirroring what is happening in the US it often makes zero sense. So, like, on one hand.... we don't have gerrymandering, or anything similar to that. Because every vote counts and there is no proportionality involved. There's also no possibility of a popular vote not coinciding with who gets elected, because the popular vote is the only vote. There also should be no doubts about the power of the vote because each vote counts as one and is obligatory... though actual numbers are more around the 70 to 80% of the population. I do think the voting system itself is something we have to take pride of. We have electronic voting booths that are in the process of all being equipped with biometrics.... they are offline, voting can only be done in person, and there are so many auditing and security steps involved that I'd have to write a whole other lengthy comment to explain what I know about it. It's also an insanely huge operation that involves an insane amount of people, vehicles, places and institutions... ranging everywhere from helicopters to take people from one place to another quickly, down to election workers going into boats to take voting booths to the most remote corners of the Amazon rainforest. I don't think there's anything quite like it in terms of logistics. Anyways, what are the downfalls? Well, because people vote directly in candidates, it's a popularity contest. There is too much cult of personality, celebritization, tokenization, and all the bad crap that comes with putting people on top of a marble pedestal. Politics take a back seat, actual proposals take a back seat, evaluations on what an elected representative actually do when they are on the seat also takes a back seat. Political advertisement and what candidates say gets so diluted, so superficial, so generic and so attuned to what electors want to hear that it often amounts to nothing. Propositions for actual change often gets put down, which is why polarization happens. All candidates are supposedly working against the worst perceived national issues (corruption, poverty, unemployment, yadda yadda), all candidates are supportive of minorities, all candidates will make Brazil better... blah blah. It's all overly generic and without any solid compromises. More dangerous and more insidious perhaps, is the fact that people ignore everything in favor of electing charismatic leaders. It's not about compromises made by candidates and their parties anymore, which is why there is no focus put in that, but about the personality in front of the TV. I don't have to tell you how this is a half step towards autocracy. So, it's an even further problem because this also means it's hard to evaluate any representative that is getting in. If they are not hold to stuff they said they'd do in very specific terms, you can't evaluate what has been done... which is particularly bad in the election we are in the midst of, because runner ups are the current president up for re-election and a former president with two terms in his bag. This focus on a candidate and what he or she represents rather than a party with a list of propositions also generates all sorts of side effects that are not only distracting, they are actively malicious. For instance, there is much more focus on FUD, mudslinging, direct attacks, digging skeletons out of a closet, and stuff like that rather than discussion about politics. We have alliances between parties and people who wouldn't see each other in the eye otherwise. There seems to be no ethical boundaries anymore, no morals, no questioning about certain political moves because it all circles around the figure of single people. Long forgotten is the idea that a president, a mayor, a senator, a congressman, all there political representatives are there to be public workers, people who are there to work for us, to represent us, to make decisions for the country. Instead, it looks more like some insular fancy country club where people rich from taking money out of public coffers discuss what they think is best for the country in their own opinions while spending tax money into fancy dinners, travels and whatnot. Which of course tends to attract the worst types of people possible. Everyone wants to be in office not because they think they have the better ideas to make the country better, but because the privilege of the political class in Brazil is so surreal that it tramples over the reality of the population with ease. It's a lottery, if you win you are guaranteed for life, even if you do jacksh*t while you are there. I do think there needs to be change to take attention out of single candidates and put more on party propositions. It might have it's own problems, but at least for a period, the ideal is that we'd change things for a while to recover the real meaning of being an elected representative. But much like in the US, we are stuck. There is no way this is gonna happen anytime soon, save for revolution which I highly doubt will happen - and if it did happen it'd probably be to the opposite direction, which is a dictatorship, which is the last thing this country needs. Fact is, politics in Brazil is dictated by politics. Reason why it's so corrupt, so bloated, with wages and privileges incompatible with the reality of the nation, with the worst type of people trying to get in, and all the other aforementioned problems. The barrier of entry has been continuously put down too, because of course everyone wants to get in. And because of cult of personality and the political divide, people keep voting for the same old parties and getting into the same old fights instead of trying something new. There is too much propaganda, paranoia, FUD and whatnot in the discussion, and people are too politically ignorant to see this. It's like McDonald's and Burger King fighting on national television on who has the healthier food... because all other options have been eliminated. We always end up having to choose which is the least worst or something. Anyways, rant over... just thought of sharing.
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