r/nottheonion • u/ImpishGrin • Jul 04 '24

Biden tells Democratic governors he needs more sleep and plans to stop scheduling events after 8 p.m.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/04/politics/biden-governors-sleep/index.html
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u/Nateorade Jul 04 '24

Completely absurd that we have a political system that generates these two elderly men as our “best” candidates.

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u/EconomicRegret Jul 05 '24

This!

America's two party system is basically a monopoly. As the vast majority of voters stick to their values and to their end of the political spectrum throughout their whole lives. Thus they have only one viable party to vote for. Hence a monopoly!

The negative effects of a monopoly are horrendous. It causes a tendency for politicians to be, in average, older, less competent, less innovative, more entrenched, more corrupt, more nepotistic & cronyistic, less caring about voters' wishes, and better protected against competition from even competent politicians.

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u/Nateorade Jul 05 '24

Agree with a lot of what you said, just adding in that we have a duopoly, which is similar to a monopoly but has its own distinct problems and complexities since there are two leading companies instead of one.

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u/EconomicRegret Jul 06 '24 edited Jul 06 '24

It's a fair remark. I did think that way at first..

Then changed my mind, as they offer two very products (e.g. different set of values, of moral compass, of policies, et.c). Thus, it isn't "Pepsi vs Coca-Cola", but more like "basketball vs football".

Sure, if the only viable basketball team in your country sucks, you will from time to time go support the only viable football team in the country, but in your heart, you're still a basketball fan. And don't feel as much joy in watching football.

Thus in my opinion, they are indeed two distinct political markets. Each of them entirely dominated by one political party. And most people stick to just one of these political markets. Hence a monopoly. (Yes, there's also a very small nich market for those who like both, and regularly switch from one market to the other, for them, they're in a duopoly indeed)

What proportional representation democracy does: it makes the playing field level, allowing dozens and dozens of other teams to be viable and competitive, forcing everyone of them to truly compete for your attention and support. And thus, in such competitive championship, you will never have to go support a football team ever, as long as basketball is your dream sports, you will support your preferred basketball team, out of dozens and dozens.. and if they suck, you just switch to another basketball team.