[Sosfbay-discuss] "Dare to Win"

[Tian Harter]

Cameron L. Spitzer wrote:

> (snip)
>
>Once you start considering effects of superstition,
>the biggest factor compelling Safe States is that
>hardly any vovers actually believe they live in a
>"safe state" or district.
>There's ego invested in the liberal's belief that
>his vote counts and is counted, and that only
>happens in swing states.
>The belief that they live in a swing district conflicts
>directly with their understanding of gerrymandering,
>but it's superstition, not rationality, so the
>contradiction doesn't dissuade.
>  
>
I think the best place to sort out the role of superstition is
baseball. Basically, the starting premise is that it's okay to
do anything that will help the home town team win.

Everybody knows that winning at Baseball takes way more
resources than anybody can imagine, so if you have to wear
an orange shirt to the game to help, so be it. If the team
wins, who is going to complain about your superstition?
There are lots of fans that do things that strike me as silly,
but if it adds to the fun for them, whatever.

Anyhow, the superstition that you can help you city succeed
by "not voting for oil companies at the gas pump" should be
looked at in the same way. If it means that more dollars do
circulate, and some of those get spent on orange shirts worn
at Giants games, and the Giants do well, so much the better.
The point is, thinking changing the way people look at things
will change the way they do things is a superstition of mine.

It's not clear to me that safe states did any good, but it's not
clear it did any harm. Anyhow, that was two years ago. Now
we are in another election cycle.

-- 
Tian
http://tianharter.org
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Tian Harter for Senate, P.O. Box 391854, Mtn View CA 94039-1854