PR's just another systemThree countries off the top of my head with wildly different results from PR: Germany, Italy and Israel. Germany has had a succession of coalition governments but remains the most powerful and wealthiest nation in Europe (and at least where I was living, an extremely high standard of living). Italy has had a succession of coalition governments that up until it was hijacked by Berlusconi had a new PM about once every fifteen minutes, and since then has been more or less riven in two -- people who believe Berlusconi and people who think he's a disgusting, fat, ageing, botox-riddled criminal. Somehow Italy staggers on. And then you've got Israel which has suffered through about 65 years of trying to keep the moderates and the bonkers fucking mad insane shithead religious freaks happy and, as a result, has a foriegn policy that revolves around acting like it's run by bonkers fucking mad insane shithead religious freaks. (No idea what the internal politics is like, not being Israeli and all.)
I don't think there's a conclusion to that, just that the results of a PR system (and yes, I know they're different in each country) really depend on what the country makes of it. I suspect we'll make something drippy and half-assed out of it and it won't work brilliantly but it certainly won't be too bad, and then life will go on exactly as it does right now. Net change to anyone's life: zilch. Then again, I also tend to think that regardless of who's in power the net change to anyone's life (bar those in the Cabinet) is zilch.
Ill-informed and half-baked opinions on the internet? FUCK YEAH.
(I don't think there's a conclusion to that, just that the results of a PR system (and yes, I know they're different in each country) really depend on what the country makes of it. I suspect we'll make something drippy and half-assed out of it and it won't work brilliantly but it certainly won't be too bad, and then life will go on exactly as it does right now. Net change to anyone's life: zilch. Then again, I also tend to think that regardless of who's in power the net change to anyone's life (bar those in the Cabinet) is zilch.
Ill-informed and half-baked opinions on the internet? FUCK YEAH.
boris the spider,
Mon 10 May 2010, 13:45,
archived)
hahaha - now I'm sitting on the fence more than everbut at least I can pretend I have some authority on it
(
Mighty Nibus who dares gins | @nibus,
Mon 10 May 2010, 13:53,
archived)
hahahaha good god so long as you're not using me as authorityi didn't call myself ill-informed and half-baked for nothing :D
fence-sitting is a good thing. you can't make a coalition without a bit of fence-sitting...
(fence-sitting is a good thing. you can't make a coalition without a bit of fence-sitting...
boris the spider,
Mon 10 May 2010, 14:03,
archived)