Although I don’t agree with his politics at all, I remember learning about this concept from Ron Paul, of all people. He was being interviewed, and the interviewer said, “You vote ‘no’ on every spending bill, but then inside the spending bill, you have made all sorts of earmarks,” implying that this made Paul a hypocrite.
But Ron Paul said, “It’s my job to make earmarks for my constituents.”
That’s when I realized that there are two things in play, “The world as it is now,” and “The world as in my ideals.” Ron Paul’s ideal world had virtually no government spending (again, I disagree with his concept), but the world that he lived in required him to spend the government’s money on his constituents.
It’s for this same reason that I feel like fighting against gerrymandering in America, locally, if the gerrymandering would benefit you, is a losing proposition right now.
As much as we don’t like it, it’s currently legal to gerrymander for a wide variety of reasons, so the good politicians will be trying to make gerrymandering, as a whole, illegal, while making sure to gerrymander as much as is legally allowed at the same time. It’s not hypocritical. It’s just that we live in that world. If people complain, you just say, “Look, here’s the bill/amendment that I support that makes gerrymandering completely illegal. Those are the laws I want in place. What I’m doing right now is doing what my constituents think is best for them. If you don’t like it, then make sure my bill/amendment passes.”
Republicans act like children, so treat them like it: have clear consequences, an easy to understand path back to fair play, and follow it up consistently.
Although I don’t agree with his politics at all, I remember learning about this concept from Ron Paul, of all people. He was being interviewed, and the interviewer said, “You vote ‘no’ on every spending bill, but then inside the spending bill, you have made all sorts of earmarks,” implying that this made Paul a hypocrite.
But Ron Paul said, “It’s my job to make earmarks for my constituents.”
That’s when I realized that there are two things in play, “The world as it is now,” and “The world as in my ideals.” Ron Paul’s ideal world had virtually no government spending (again, I disagree with his concept), but the world that he lived in required him to spend the government’s money on his constituents.
It’s for this same reason that I feel like fighting against gerrymandering in America, locally, if the gerrymandering would benefit you, is a losing proposition right now.
As much as we don’t like it, it’s currently legal to gerrymander for a wide variety of reasons, so the good politicians will be trying to make gerrymandering, as a whole, illegal, while making sure to gerrymander as much as is legally allowed at the same time. It’s not hypocritical. It’s just that we live in that world. If people complain, you just say, “Look, here’s the bill/amendment that I support that makes gerrymandering completely illegal. Those are the laws I want in place. What I’m doing right now is doing what my constituents think is best for them. If you don’t like it, then make sure my bill/amendment passes.”
Make explicit anti-gerrymandering gerrymanders.
Republicans act like children, so treat them like it: have clear consequences, an easy to understand path back to fair play, and follow it up consistently.