1 in every US citizen is an elected official!! Ozzi recommends Australian Federal Broadcaster ABC in-depth You Tube viewing
There has been a series of ABC shows in Australia media, especially in last few weeks. ABC is an Australian Government financed National Broadcaster which shows news, fiction, comedy, documentaries, sport etc. There's no private corporation advertising in it at all. There are accessible on You Tube (not sure if you need to use a VPN). I recommend ABC 4Corners 2 part show on Trump shown a few months ago. In the last few weeks there has also been 2 series with multiple episodes on American elections and the Jan6 attack. Additionally, twice a week there is a show called Planet America with 2 guys who do analysis on current events with interviews and feature investigations (I find the casually dressed host a bit annoying). Each political show, each episode might, in part, feature a State, an historical moment, a theme or discuss current events etc. For example discussions in one recent 4 part series featured the question "Can there be too much democracy (eg. voting)? America is fairly unique in the amount of voting that happens in the country compared to most other democracies. According to this show's ABC investigation, there's about half a million elected officials in America and that equates to 1 in 700 citizens and its costing many billions of dollars (& increasing).
Here in Australia we vote mainly for State and Federal Government as well as Council Mayors, and that's it as far as I know. Other officials, like judges, department heads, utility managers, etc are jobs to be applied for and chosen by superiors based on expertise and qualification. If they act out or are incompetent, citizens/staff can submit complaints and/or they can lose their job after an investigation. In our Governmental elections, we generally use a 2 party preferred system whereby if there is more than one person or party on the ticket, then the biggest two winners get the loser's votes according to a pre-decided plan put forward by the losers before the election is held. You can vote/tick for your political party or you can tick down ballot for each individual legislative party/person in order of your own preference. If you use one tick for your preferred political party that then covers the rest of the votes in a predetermined way. You vote on one small sheet for the House of Assembly and then on a larger sheet for the Legislative Council. I often use two ticks total every time as I trust my Political Party to do right by me. Nothings perfect but I have enough faith in our system success so far. There is no voting machine where I vote, just paper ballots sent in or picked up in the voting hall then pushed into 2 cardboard boxes situated in front of a non-partisan monitor. Volunteers have a list of named citizen voters in front of them, they tick off your name and you get your two sheets of paper to vote on. If your less well informed about individuals, you can easily know how to vote down ballot as there are volunteers outside the room handing out how to vote sheets based on the Political Party they represent. I have never seen any arguments. You can grab all of them if you want to help you decide if you want to vote in a more varied way. No judgement or threat. Campaigns last a few weeks and Voting is often done at your local primary school. Australian citizens are, thank goodness, encouraged to be involved, be engaged and, at the very least, vote under the threat of a small financial penalty! I never hear anyone complain about having to vote here. We vote and then we can blame ourselves as a collective if we get a poor candidate.
Anyway, I am really writing to encourage DU members to check out ABC In-Depth you tube videos such as Four Corners (on Jan6 & Trump threat), Planet America (Wed and Frid evening Aust time) and the more recent series called American are you ok? (4 parts so far) and America's Last Election (2 parts so far). I am now retired, and I am extremely concerned about the threatening Trump&Co global effect (I have children and grandchildren that could be effected by a lost USA democracy plus I loved my year traveling around America so I truly care). I watch both American, British and Australian news and I get something different about USA politics/culture with each viewing. What I do find valuable is the more documentary style, step-back analysis in non-USA media, as well as the more emotive but still informative You Tube videos put out by media collectives such as MSNBC, MeidasTouch, Lincoln Project, Democracy Docket, Talking Feds, Legal AF, Glenn Kirschner, Brian Tyler, Simon Rosenberg etc.
If DU members are interested in another Country's view of your more complex, more costly democracy style system (from a more impartial but still concerned viewpoint; with perhaps a more detailed, more impartial viewpoint analysis), please watch our Federally financed, less biased (Leftish) ABC shows to get a step-back perspective. Our ABC media is in a class of its own. It can get targeted by our conservative Liberal Party (ironic name isn't it) as the Libs view the ABC as being more biased to the more public/worker priority Australian Labor Party, but it has survived for a long long long time fairly intact. Sadly we recently lost another State to the Libs last weekend. Our Liberal Party is like a potential interested student party to your Republican Party. They would likely like to be more authoritarian but our citizens generally keep them in their place.
Lastly I want to say that I have read so much commentary about How can anyone vote for Trump, How is this election so evenly split after such horrendous behaviour by Trump. Hardly anyone discusses the current status of your Education System (as well as the negative effects of having a high level of poverty). The Charter school system has hurt your public Education system dreadfully. Also Poverty has affected your citizen's ability to have time to reflect on important issues, as well as have time to importantly recreate. There are far less negative consequences (eg The socialism fear) in a blended, strategically targeted public/private funding mix. Some aspects of community life needs public funding and cannot be put into profit making control (or require a high level of voting which is often not done well when its excessive). I could go on about money in politics, ascribing large corporations with the power status of individualism in its right to donate, relying on an almost impossible 60% governing decision making rules, never ending life-time judgeship jobs, effects of poorly paid cops etc. However, primarily, you need to support your youth and family with quality public education, job & consumer protections and basic family support so they can think rationally (quality education, time to reflect and recreate), live in safety & be protected in all aspects of basic living (more consumer protections, less guns, basic health care, affordable quality childcare, reasonable personal/family time off employment laws, healthy environments etc.). Ultimately it starts with Childhood Support, Quality Education and Safe, well supported Families. Then you can say with more appropriate shock, how did half of America really think Trump is a good guy to vote for.
Good luck. There are Australians who care, love American and want the Democrats to win the most earnest way.
Vote please.
Ozzi
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