Slashdot Mirror
The US Redrawn As 50 Equally Populated States
First time accepted submitter Daniel_Stuckey writes "Bam! For anyone that's paid a speck of attention to the tedium of political redistricting, which happens while a state grows unevenly, (and must dynamically respond to density, electorate disparity, natural resources and ridgelines, etc.), this is straight out of some psychedelic dream. For Democrats, it could be straight out of a nightmare. That's because Freeman's map necessitates 50 equally populous United States. His methods for creating the map are explained thusly: 'The algorithm was seeded with the fifty largest cities. After that, manual changes took into account compact shapes, equal populations, metro areas divided by state lines, and drainage basins. In certain areas, divisions are based on census tract lines... The suggested names of the new states are taken mainly from geographical features.'"
We have the electoral college because we live in a federated representational republic, not a democracy. The individual citizens of the United States don't get a vote for president. Our states do. We only get a vote to tell our state government who we would prefer they vote for. And, they don't even need to listen to us (and have in the past chosen to vote against the will of the people)!
The antebellum South called, it wants you back.
Seriously, this issue was settled at Appomatox Court House in 1865. There is no such thing as individual state sovereignty in any meaningful sense any more. Nor should there be. State government tends to be the most corrupt and least accountable layer, worse than the feds (who are usually under a magnifying glass of media coverage) and worse than the locals (who at least have to make sure the roads stay paved and the schools open or they'll be thrown out of office.)
Cops are never there to provide for your safety, only assess the damage and figure out who to enslave in the prison complex.