they seemed to know what to expect. the desire to have
an informed electorate i think was one particular
reason for jefferson's drive to start public
education. after the first 175 years that institution
started to fail and has gotten wrose as the years roll
on.

- Trisha Cummings <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> HI Ken,
>
>   Yup you are right - so far I have learned more
> about the foundinf =
> fathers intents in the education  class I just
> finished. Interesting how =
> they didn't actually trust us to make the right
> decisions.=20
>
>                                         Trisha
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: St. John's University Cerebral Palsy List
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of
> ken barber
> Sent: Saturday, October 02, 2004 2:48 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: The elections
>
>
> the schools never teach how our system works and so
> we
> have a couple of generations that have grown up
> thinking this to be a "democracy." a lynch mob is a
> democracy, but it is not good for the one being
> lynched.
>
> --- ken barber <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> > what you are describing is a parlimentery
> > democratcy.
> > the u.s. is a represenative republic which is a
> > different animal.
> >
> > --- [log in to unmask] wrote:
> >
> > >     If America had a proportional
> representational
> > > system, it would be GREAT
> > > to vote for minor party candidates.  If a minor
> > > party got some minimum, say
> > > 5%, they would have seats in the national
> > > legislature, and they could form
> > > coalitions with the larger parties.
> > >
> > >     Unfortunately, we don't have such a system.
> > We
> > > have a winner take all
> > > system, with single seat, geographic districts.
> > >
> > >     Canada and the U.K. have a similar electoral
> > > system to ours-- by
> > > tradition and history, they have three party
> > > systems; we have just a two party system.
> > >  Ross Perot tried to build a three party system
> in
> > > 1992 and 1996, but his
> > > effort failed.
> > >
> > >     A three party system can lead to some odd
> > > results.  Margaret Thatcher
> > > never got more than 43% of the vote in any
> > election.
> > >
> > >     The coin of the realm is our two-party,
> winner
> > > take all system, with our
> > > strange electoral college.
> > >
> > >     The candidates that survive the primary
> system
> > > frequently are uninspiring
> > > centrists.  However, the forces arrayed in and
> > > around the Democratic Party
> > > are much more diverse than those in the G.O.P.
> > This
> > > is why I support the
> > > Democrats.
> > >
> > > Bill Volonte
> > > William J. Volonte
> > > Attorney at Law
> > > 117 Central Avenue
> > > Hackensack, NJ 07601-4207
> > > Tel.: (201) 883-0777; Fax: (201) 883-0767
> > > H: (201) 659-4941; Cell: (201) 780-4327
> > > E-Mail: H: [log in to unmask]; O:
> > [log in to unmask]
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________
> > Do you Yahoo!?
> > Declare Yourself - Register online to vote today!
> > http://vote.yahoo.com
> >
>
>
>
>
> __________________________________
> Do you Yahoo!?
> Read only the mail you want - Yahoo! Mail SpamGuard.
> http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail
>




__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - Send 10MB messages!
http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail