Thursday, September 12, 2019

How To Identify The Despotic Minority - 13

Back in the USSR
I. Background

This Dredd Blog series has been pointing out the history of nationalism, militarism, and the tyranny of a despotic minority that has brought down over twenty civilizations down through time.

The information comes from Encyclopedia Britannica and historian Arnold Toynbee (How To Identify The Despotic Minority, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12).

One factor that has been focused on is "tyranny" which is another word for "cruelty."

As it turns out, perhaps one of the least expected sources of cruelty being revealed is a "religious" source not at all associated with terrorism (Atlantic, RawStory).

In today's post I want to point out that the American government as set up by the U.S. Constitution is not fail safe, because it has some serious undemocratic aspects to it that at this point in our nation's history is unlikely to be remedied.

II. A Predicament

According the the last census of 2010, the 22 "Red States" that are home to a lot of current right wing religion and politics, as shown by the table below, make up only 31.42% of the population of the 50 states.

Yet they are given two senators each, totaling 44% of the U.S. Senate:

Red StatesPopulation
Rank
Population
Census 2010
Population
Percent
Senate
Percent
Wyoming 50 0.563626 mil 0.17 2
Alaska 48 0.710231 mil 0.39 4
North Dakota 47 0.672591 mil 0.62 6
South Dakota 46 0.81418 mil 0.89 8
Montana 43 0.989415 mil 1.21% 10%
Idaho 39 1.56758 mil 1.74 12
West Virginia 38 1.85299 mil 2.29 14
Nebraska 37 1.82634 mil 2.87 16
Kansas 35 2.85312 mil 3.75 18
Mississippi 34 2.9673 mil 4.65% 20%
Arkansas 33 2.91592 mil 5.56 22
Utah 30 2.76389 mil 6.52 24
Oklahoma 28 3.75135 mil 7.71 26
Kentucky 26 4.33937 mil 9.06 28
Louisiana 25 4.53337 mil 10.47% 30%
Alabama 24 4.77974 mil 11.95 32
South Carolina 23 4.62536 mil 13.49 34
Missouri 18 5.98893 mil 15.34 36
Tennessee 16 6.3461 mil 17.39 38
Arizona 14 6.39202 mil 19.56% 40%
Georgia 8 9.68765 mil 22.74 42
Texas 2 25.1456 mil 31.42% 44%
Total  96.0866 mil

III. Another Predicament

Now, let's look at the whole population, all states, and the entire population so as to see that a remedy is not within our grasp at this time.

The table below (per 2010 Census) shows that 1.08% of the population elects 10% of the senate, 2.82% of the population elects 20% of the senate, 5.54% of the population elects 30% of the senate, 10.1% of the population elects 40% of the senate, 15.95% of the population elects 50% of the senate, 23.8% of the population elects 60% of the senate, and 33.31% of the population elects 70% of the senate (and so forth):

State
(R=Red State)
Population
Rank
Population
Census 2010
Population
Percent
Senate
Percent
Wyoming (R) 50 0.563626 mil 0.17 2
Vermont 49 0.625741 mil 0.36 4
Alaska (R) 48 0.710231 mil 0.58 6
North Dakota (R) 47 0.672591 mil 0.81 8
South Dakota (R) 46 0.81418 mil 1.08% 10%
Delaware 45 0.897934 mil 1.37 12
Rhode Island 44 1.05257 mil 1.69 14
Montana (R) 43 0.989415 mil 2.01 16
Maine 42 1.32836 mil 2.41 18
New Hampshire 41 1.31647 mil 2.82% 20%
Hawaii 40 1.3603 mil 3.25 22
Idaho (R) 39 1.56758 mil 3.78 24
West Virginia (R) 38 1.85299 mil 4.33 26
Nebraska (R) 37 1.82634 mil 4.91 28
New Mexico 36 2.05918 mil 5.54% 30%
Kansas (R) 35 2.85312 mil 6.42 32
Mississippi (R) 34 2.9673 mil 7.32 34
Arkansas (R) 33 2.91592 mil 8.23 36
Nevada 32 2.70055 mil 9.15 38
Iowa 31 3.04636 mil 10.1% 40%
Utah (R) 30 2.76389 mil 11.06 42
Connecticut 29 3.5741 mil 12.14 44
Oklahoma (R) 28 3.75135 mil 13.33 46
Oregon 27 3.83107 mil 14.6 48
Kentucky (R) 26 4.33937 mil 15.95% 50%
Louisiana (R) 25 4.53337 mil 17.36 52
Alabama (R) 24 4.77974 mil 18.84 54
South Carolina (R) 23 4.62536 mil 20.38 56
Minnesota 22 5.30392 mil 22.08 58
Colorado 21 5.0292 mil 23.8% 60%
Wisconsin 20 5.68699 mil 25.56 62
Maryland 19 5.77355 mil 27.39 64
Missouri (R) 18 5.98893 mil 29.24 66
Indiana 17 6.4838 mil 31.26 68
Tennessee (R) 16 6.3461 mil 33.31% 70%
Massachusetts 15 6.54763 mil 35.4 72
Arizona (R) 14 6.39202 mil 37.57 74
Washington 13 6.72454 mil 39.85 76
Virginia 12 8.00102 mil 42.43 78
New Jersey 11 8.79189 mil 45.12% 80%
Michigan 10 9.88364 mil 48.14 82
North Carolina 9 9.53548 mil 51.28 84
Georgia (R) 8 9.68765 mil 54.46 86
Ohio 7 11.5365 mil 57.99 88
Illinois 6 12.8306 mil 61.84% 90%
Pennsylvania 5 12.7024 mil 65.71 92
New York 4 19.3781 mil 71.62 94
Florida 3 18.8013 mil 78.06 96
Texas (R) 2 25.1456 mil 86.74 98
California 1 37.2545 mil 98.7% 100%
USA 308.144 mil

IV. Population Estimates For 2018

The table below (population estimates for 2018) shows that 1.09766% of the population elects 10% of the senate, 2.86874% of the population elects 20% of the senate, 5.62715% of the population elects 30% of the senate, 10.2532% of the population elects 40% of the senate, 16.176% of the population elects 50% of the senate, 24.1214% of the population elects 60% of the senate, and 33.7532% of the population elects 70% of the senate (and so forth):

StatePopulation
Rank
Population
2018 Est.
Percent of
Population
Percent of
Senate
Wyoming 50 0.577737 mil 0.176968% 2%
Vermont 49 0.626299 mil 0.368811% 4%
Alaska 48 0.737438 mil 0.594697% 6%
North Dakota 47 0.760077 mil 0.827517% 8%
South Dakota 46 0.882235 mil 1.09776% 10%
Delaware 45 0.967171 mil 1.39401% 12%
Rhode Island 44 1.05732 mil 1.71788% 14%
Montana 43 1.06231 mil 2.04328% 16%
Maine 42 1.3384 mil 2.45324% 18%
New Hampshire 41 1.35646 mil 2.86874% 20%
Hawaii 40 1.42049 mil 3.30386% 22%
Idaho 39 1.75421 mil 3.84119% 24%
West Virginia 38 1.80583 mil 4.39434% 26%
Nebraska 37 1.92927 mil 4.98529% 28%
New Mexico 36 2.09543 mil 5.62715% 30%
Kansas 35 2.91151 mil 6.51898% 32%
Mississippi 34 2.98653 mil 7.43379% 34%
Arkansas 33 3.01383 mil 8.35695% 36%
Nevada 32 3.03439 mil 9.28642% 38%
Iowa 31 3.15614 mil 10.2532% 40%
Utah 30 3.16111 mil 11.2215% 42%
Connecticut 29 3.57267 mil 12.3158% 44%
Oklahoma 28 3.94308 mil 13.5236% 46%
Oregon 27 4.19071 mil 14.8073% 48%
Kentucky 26 4.4684 mil 16.176% 50%
Louisiana 25 4.65998 mil 17.6034% 52%
Alabama 24 4.88787 mil 19.1006% 54%
South Carolina 23 5.08413 mil 20.658% 56%
Minnesota 22 5.61118 mil 22.3767% 58%
Colorado 21 5.69556 mil 24.1214% 60%
Wisconsin 20 5.81357 mil 25.9021% 62%
Maryland 19 6.04272 mil 27.7531% 64%
Missouri 18 6.12645 mil 29.6297% 66%
Indiana 17 6.69188 mil 31.6795% 68%
Tennessee 16 6.77001 mil 33.7532% 70%
Massachusetts 15 6.90215 mil 35.8674% 72%
Arizona 14 7.17165 mil 38.0642% 74%
Washington 13 7.53559 mil 40.3724% 76%
Virginia 12 8.51769 mil 42.9815% 78%
New Jersey 11 8.90852 mil 45.7103% 80%
Michigan 10 9.99592 mil 48.7721% 82%
North Carolina 9 10.3836 mil 51.9527% 84%
Georgia 8 10.5195 mil 55.175% 86%
Ohio 7 11.6894 mil 58.7556% 88%
Illinois 6 12.7411 mil 62.6583% 90%
Pennsylvania 5 12.8071 mil 66.5813% 92%
New York 4 19.5422 mil 72.5673% 94%
Florida 3 21.2993 mil 79.0915% 96%
Texas 2 28.7018 mil 87.8832% 98%
California 1 39.557 mil 100% 100%
USA 326,465,000

Of course that assumes that every one of those members of the population votes (see how optimistic I am sometimes).

The point I am making is that this is not the definition of a democracy in the pure, functional sense: "government by the people; especially : rule of the majority" (Dictionary).

The population in a state with 500,000 people gets the same number of senators as a state with ~40,000,000 people.

This means that the low population states can more easily control the senate, and thus the cabinets and the courts (Here Come De Conservative Judges234567).

And as goes the Supremes, so goes the nation ("the constitution says what the Supreme Court says it says" - paraphrase, see Harvard Law Review).

The Senate decides who can go on the Supreme Court, and who cannot.

See the problem?!

V. Closing Comments

The tyranny of the despotic minority is here, and the odds are that it is here to stay?

The next post in this series is here, the previous post in this series is here.

Ode to The Rus People:



3 comments:

  1. ‘Decades of progress are at stake’ (link).

    ReplyDelete
  2. "... legislative gridlock and voter cynicism today are reminiscent of conditions that marked the last months of democracy in Italy and Germany" (A historian of Nazi Germany explains why the divided opposition to Trump should terrify you).

    ReplyDelete
  3. "Mitch McConnell: The Man Who Sold America" (link)

    ReplyDelete