A Lesson In Democracy

When I was teaching, and even for some period after that, I would drop by and talk to the secretaries in our department. I know, I know, you're not supposed to call them secretaries any more. They're now called admistrative aides. And even among such aides, there's a great deal of diversity in the amount of adminstrating that can be done.

So, I'm talking to one of the administrative aides, and she says something about "we live in a democracy, and democracy rules". I pointed out that, in fact, there are many cases where democracy doesn't rule, and where we're better off because of it. At one point, women didn't have the right to vote, and neither did African Americans. The Bill of Rights protects individuals, regardless of prevailing popular opinion.

But I failed to bring up other simple examples where democracy definitely doesn't rule. How many people would want more than two weeks of vacation? If we could vote to have four weeks of vacation, would not democracy rule and companies be forced to give us what we want? It is our right! Heck, four weeks, let's take the whole year off! Of course, this begs the question. If everyone didn't have to work, how would we get any basic services? We wouldn't. Still, would it really be so bad to have a month of vacation right off the bat?

This brings me to my complaint, my rant of the day, where I wish democracy would solve my problems. I am talking about purchasing CDs. Ah, compact discs, you are the bane of my existence. Who ever thought to wrap this in plastic so tight, that you need scissors to open it? I suppose the problem with making it easy to open is that people will be tempted to, well, open it. Tough packages make it tougher to want to open it.

But come on, this is Amazon. They aren't selling the CDs to a store where individuals might accidentally or curiously open the wrapping. I should not have to deal with such infuriating packaging.

But, no, it gets worse. Even after you open the package, there's a seal at the top, that's made of the flimsiest tape ever. As you try to open it, this tape-like substance easily shreds, unless you're extremely nimble. Why, oh why, is that layer of protection needed? And if it's needed, why is it made so flimsy?

I understand the quaintness of purchasing music. Were I some clever boy, I'm sure I could find some way to get music like this for free. Yet, I either hold the sanctity of purchasing items the "legal" way very highly, or I am stupid. I think it's both. CDs are expensive, and it's too bad they are. Honestly, if they charged, say five dollars a CD, I think people might actually buy far more the legal way, then spend the $10 to $15 or more that they cost.

And I understand that democracy won't solve my problem. We can't vote on everything, otherwise draconian companies would go out of business. Companies seek to protect their own interests, and despite the fact they're run by people, these people decree that other people should have to suffer so their interests as a company aren't usurped.

I'd like to go on about how gerrymandering is this awful, awful, highly non-democrati c idea that should be abolished post-haste. I suspect a court, like the Supreme Court, would have to make this so. Yet, we live with a system that allows a handful of officials to draw county lines willy nilly, to create thinly veiled "majorities" which are nothing of the kind, thus making our votes worth less. People say "one man (or human), one vote" are fooling themselves. Not all votes are created equal.

Anyway, back to listening to a CD I finally managed to liberate from its package. I'd like to find a WMD to open it next time, and declare a jihad on the manufacturers of this infernal package.