Ah, the age of technology in which we find ourselves. Far more advanced than I'm sure any one of our founding fathers could have ever dreamt. I'm sure there are far more people residing in the United States than they might've imagined, too.
Let's keep some numbers in mind, shall we?
- Senate: 100 Members in total, two Senators per State (unchanged since 1787)
- House: 435 Members in total, # per state set by population (unchanged since 1913)
(jump the fold, please)
Why do we have representatives in Congress?
Well, there are many reasons and many functions. Some of which should stand thru & true today. But, one purpose they served was to represent their constituents so as not to have to wait for issues to be voted upon by each individual person. I mean, think about it, way back when ... the Pony Express was not reliable, there weren't any telephones, etc. And, move into the day of phones and telegraphs, things were still very slow.
We have the technology.
Today we have the Internet and a more reliable (yet still having issues) postal service. We have mutual funds and corporations accepting votes on stock/fund issues via phone and Internet. We have system security - and I realize we have system hacks - and ways to mitigate the risk of falsifying information (CallerID is used, for example, in securing the activation of your credit card).
We can vote for ourselves.
Today we need Congress to uphold the laws of the land and serve (as they currently are NOT) as one of the three checks/balances in our federal government. But, do we need them to vote for us any longer? I mean, let them draft legislation, but why aren't we voting on every item ourselves - as referendums?
Not everyone is even the slightest interested.
For those who aren't willing to investigate the pertinent information necessary to make an educated vote, they can abstain. Or, if they never plan to get that involved, they can choose - from the get go - to have their representative vote for them, however that representative feels on the issues.
I mean, how hard would it be to submit your secure information to a system that tracked whether you plan to vote always, sometimes or never? When you choose:
- Always - any non-vote is not counted at all
- Sometimes - any non-vote is counted the way your Rep votes on the issue
- Never - your vote is counted as your Rep votes on the issue
We claim to have the best and the brightest.
So, why not challenge them to put together a solid system and update the way things are voted upon?
It's not 1783, 1911 or any olden day anymore. We have the means and we're not being fairly represented anymore.
Oh, but the negatives ...
Oh, and for all the nay-sayers who will chime in about the expense of maintaining security and integrity of said system ... what is the value of everything (time, for one) wasted today on all bullshit we have to endure on TV and in the news about this Senator or that party and the like?
We can look for all the bad in this idea (which is human nature - fear, uncertainty & doubt [FUD]) or we can set our sights on success and strive to reach it.
p.s.: If you let your current representatives vote on this issue for you, it will never come to pass.