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Why is Our System Broken? Help Update the Mechanisms Guiding Our Actions

Picture of Taylor Polchinski By   ·  9 minute read

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This video summary was created using Kapwing. I have begun recording full-length videos and will work backward over time to update these videos.

Why read this post?

Problems threatening our lives and those of people we love are everywhere.

As we accelerate toward an unclear ending, what are we all going to do?

I think of the world as a big operating system so we just need an update.

To start, we must remember why we all suck and go step-by-step.

Those in control need to be controlled by the people they impact, us!

[Meme][RMM_7] Chaos_without_Control

By freeing the people that control us, the system can be corrected faster and better.

Right now, we can only expect things to get worse because everyone is trapped on this path.

I love through pain so I don't blame anyone specifically for the situation.

I simply believe that real democracy holds representatives accountable and that can change everything.

Imagine a world where the people in control actually responded to the voters.

Over the next few minutes, join us on a journey to update our operating system.

And now to the conversation...

If the US is so great, why does everything seem broken?

Well, why do you think things are broken?

Aren’t there tons of reasons to feel good about the world?

Artificial intelligence will democratize technology more than ever.

We are seeing the lowest unemployment rate in over 50 years.

And, the stock market is near an all-time high it set last year.

Life expectancy is decreasing.

Crime is increasing.

Overdoses are increasing.

Depression is increasing.

Suicide is increasing.

Need I keep listing signs….?

You certainly do not.

Many people think we are on the wrong track.

It is common as you speak with enough people.

Even worse, it often directly impacts the people we love.

I have lost people to suicide, overdose, depression, and crime.

Some over a decade ago and others as recently as this year.

Life can truly be hard for more reasons than we realize.

I could never blame any of those people for their decisions.

They did what they did for reasons I understood even if I didn’t agree.

So why is it like this?

With all of our growth, why does it suck?

People are overwhelmed by the number of problems.

You didn’t even discuss rising temperatures, diseases, or war.

I can understand why many people would rather ignore it all.

Yet, some might want to know how we got here.

Others might want to know how we fix it.

Others could be wondering how to prevent it from getting worse.

There really could be many questions and answers.

The simplest explanation is the system wasn’t perfect.

As no system is.

Things change and as things change, systems need to adapt.

And that’s even in a “perfect” system that is meant to last “forever.”

So you’re saying all of this was always going to happen?

No, just that we shouldn’t be surprised that the system is broken.

Systems (like anything) are bound to break without enough care.

[Meme][RMM_7] No_Systems_Are_Flawless

Why?

There are a ton of things to account for.

    1. We all suck.
    2. Aligning our reasons is complicated.
    3. Resources are limited.
    4. Quality requires time and money.
    5. And even if you account for everything, the world keeps changing.

So WHAT DO WE DO?!?!

The first step in fixing any problem is recognizing there is one. (Quote)

Now that we agree on some of the causes, we can plan for fixing them.

  • To build trust, we improve transparency.
  • To align on reasons, we clarify effectiveness.
  • To not risk running out of resources, we ensure resilience.
  • To measure quality, we increase depth.
  • To meet future needs, we build with adaptability.

What does any of that even mean in practice?

I can agree with all of that, but it sounds vague.

What are you going to do about it?

First, I started writing this blog to help good people enable each other.

Next, we will launch a community for people to collaborate together.

After that, we will work on specific projects to build traction on tangible changes.

What kinds of tangible changes?

The focus would be changing why we all suck.

Fixing the people in control unblocks many other problems.

Therefore, we should first look at how we select candidates and politicians.

 

Made with Visme Infographic Maker

O, almost everyone doesn’t like politicians.

Certainly!

More than 50% of people disapprove of politicians every year.

We have all been told that we live in a free democracy.

Yet, somehow they are rarely replaced with 90% or more reelected every year.

Essentially, the people think they suck, but can’t replace them.

United States Congress Re-election Rates versus Approval Rate

Woah, that’s even crazier than I thought.

Why is it like that?

You’d think it would be complicated, but it is really just about competition.

The way we vote doesn’t create enough competition within and against parties.

Therefore, we get the same politicians over and over again because they can’t lose.

To fix it, we need to enable competition within each party.

Then, we also need to improve the competition between parties.

Within the party?

Are you saying D’s versus D’s and R’s versus R’s?

Yes, D versus R is the second layer of the problem

When people think about the last few elections, did that feel like America’s best?

I imagine not because most people don’t want to vote for any of those candidates.

Instead, most are voting against people they don’t like.

If you don’t like Democrats, you vote Republican.

If you don’t like Republicans, you vote Democrat.

The candidates don’t seem to matter, but they should, right?

Hmmm… the candidates should matter, but I don’t want to vote for the other side.

We can get to that next!

First, let’s get better candidates so your side gets the person you want.

This might sound counterintuitive, but we need to require “Open Primaries”

To get better candidates, we must allow people we disagree with to vote in our primaries.

What?... Why?

You win an election with the most votes.

By opening primaries, we can actually see how the general public feels about candidates.

We can select the candidate from each party that we want to see in the general election.

Every voter can have an equal say in every party so they are truly non-partisan.

By closing primaries, voters outside feel excluded for obvious reasons.

Don’t expect people to switch sides when the party actively restricts their ability to vote.

Interesting… but that can’t fix everything.

Of course not, that just helps the parties have “some” competition from within.

Voting in general was designed a little too simple to be effective.

One vote for one person sounds good, but in practice, it is very restrictive.

What happens when a 3rd party enters?

You would think that it should create competition, but doesn’t.

Instead, people call those candidates spoilers.

Why would our system allow spoilers?

We shouldn’t!

But we can’t just ban 3rd party candidates, right?

That definitely wouldn’t increase competition so we need more than one vote.

Well, not technically one vote, but a ranked vote.

Still one vote, but the vote is based on your ranking.

This structure is called “Ranked Choice Voting”.

You vote for all the candidates you want in order.

Then your vote only counts for the candidate you rank highest when one goes over 50%.

50%, isn’t that how it already works?

Definitely not!

In 4 of the last 8 presidential elections, the candidate didn’t have 50% of the vote.

Ranked Choice Voting fixes this by forcing a candidate to get 50% or more.

It also eliminates the spoiler effect since less popular candidates don’t waste your vote.

In fact, we would see healthier elections since candidates can be ranked by every voter.

By combining Open Primaries with Ranked Choice Voting, you get “Final Five Voting”.

Implementing this model encourages every candidate to compete for every vote.

[Meme][RMM_7] Politicians_Trying_To_Win_Every_Vote

Ok, so how do you plan to make this a reality?

We need to…

    1. Spread the word in our conversations
    2. Recruit others to support throughout the country and world
    3. Help organizations make these changes nationwide

Woah, sounds like you plan to be busy!

What should I do in the meantime?

I recommend joining our community and checking out some of my news influences.

As you get acclimated, you will have your own Why and interests.

Work with people in the community to help turn plans into reality.

Over time, we will find and create the most significant changes by collaborating.

Power to The People, For the People, By the People.

I appreciate your time and am wishing you well as another person in the world!

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Summary of the Conversation

  • If the US is so great, why does everything seem broken? Life expectancy is decreasing, Crime is increasing, Overdoses are increasing, Depression is increasing, Suicide is increasing, and more!
  • Why is it like this? Systems (like anything) are bound to break without enough care.
  • Why? There are a ton of things to account for including: We all suck. Aligning our reasons is complicated. Resources are limited. Quality requires time and money. And even if you account for everything, the world keeps changing.
  • WHAT DO WE DO?!?! We improve our transparency, effectiveness, resilience, depth and adaptability.
  • What are you going to do about it? This blog to helps good people enable each other. Our future community helps people collaborate. Together we will work on specific projects to build traction on tangible changes.
  • What kinds of tangible changes? Fixing the people in control unblocks many other problems. Therefore, we will increase competition among politicians by implementing Open Primaries, Ranked Choice Voting, and Final Five Voting.
  • How will this help? Open Primaries enable competition within each party while Ranked Choice Voting improves competition across and within parties. Combined, they can be Final Five voting.
  • How do you plan to make this a reality? Spread the word in our conversations. Recruit others to support throughout the country and world. Help organizations make these changes nationwide.

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Apply it!

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Credits and Sources

Thank you to Everyone who has helped!

3rd Party Links in Order of Appearance

Writing Influences & Inspirations

  • Conversations with countless friends, family, and acquaintances.
  • Andrew Yang and Breaking Points - Both made me aware of issues I had not been aware of previously and have opened my eyes to how broken everything is structurally.
  • Upside Down by Jack Johnson (Music)

Explore My Influences for Context for more influences

Multimedia Credits

Other Read My Mind posts linked in this post

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What's Next...

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If you have any thoughts, questions, or other feedback, I would love to hear it! Please submit it via the Feedback form and I will see how I can incorporate it!

To see how feedback has impacted the blog, check out Feedback from the Community.

To see how feedback has impacted this specific post, check out the Update Log.

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Update Log

  • Overhauled blog structure including adding sections - November 2, 2023 (Feedback from Lorraine Polchinski, Corey Betancourt, and Chris Aman led to restructuring and additions)
  • Originally published - August 7, 2023

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