Good vid.

Sat through a bunch of this clip, dunno why. Repetitive as hell, and the points sorta meh. Yes, we should revise the voting process. But harping on things like the vote % to seat count % as an explicit issue, fundamentally misrepresents what people are meant to be voting for at the poling stations in the current setup: their local candidate/representative of their specific region. That representative, is then meant to represent the interests of that specific region.

The aggregate vote count versus seat count is only a ‘problem’ as a result of aggregation/stats models mis-reading what’s meant to be going on at the ground level, as well as political interests that want to see more minor parties / more diversification of power inflating the ‘problem’. If most of the people in a region want a specific party, that region gets represented by that party. And yes, if most regions mostly want to be represented by a specific party, that party will represent most regions even if it doesn’t have the same vote/seat count %s once you start ignoring those regional divides. Ignoring the regional component, allows them to frame it as a problem, but it also fundamentally changes what the voters are voting for / how representation works.

Further, while the piece laments the situation and highlights some countries that have similar batshit voting methods (the USA being a prime example), it doesn’t pay much attention to risks/issues that are being made more clear these days. A proportional type gov with lots of minority parties is great – but name a significant world power with a large military and the ability to enforce their world view globally that uses that political system/approach. The big powers, the USA, China, and Russia, are not made up of these disjointed, mired in debate type governments. Whether the left likes it or not, Power matters, and a diffused, often mired in debate/conflicting view points, approach does not generally promote a Nation’s Power/authority outside its borders. It’s sorta like the brief Spanish Anarcho-syndicate government, which couldn’t come to a consensus on whether they should defend the country against the invading hitler-backed fascist forces of Franco – get too many chefs in the kitchen, and every dish will taste like half-cooked shit. You can have disagreements on various things, but in some areas you need conformity and to tow a unified line. For all its faults, the representative system provides that much, at least – when a party has a majority, it can generally get legislation passed from its agenda.