> -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On > Behalf Of Ronn! Blankenship > Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2007 8:46 PM > To: Killer Bs Discussion > Subject: RE: hot air polemics > > At 06:22 AM Thursday 5/24/2007, Alberto Monteiro wrote: > >Dan Minette wrote: > > > > > > I think from Ronn's posts that he is a centralist slightly to the > > > right of center, > > > >and I see myself as centralist to the left of > > > center. (...) > > > > Okay. Now we just have to pin down where "the center" is. And > whether the measurements are wrt a fixed scale or one in which "the > center" is defined by (in some sense) taking the average of the > population at any given time. And if the latter, which > population? those old enough to vote? those who have voted in 90% > (or some other figure: allowing for the fact that things like > illness, last-minute travel (too late and perhaps too sudden to > arrange for an absentee ballot, moving after the deadline to register > at the new address, etc., may occasionally happen which can prevent > even the most conscientious voter from reaching 100%) of elections > (local, state, Federal, primary, runoff, general, . . . ) since they > turned 18? those who voted in the last Presidential election? some > other criterion? And is a "centralist" who is a life-long resident > of Provo, UT the same as a "centralist" who lives in Berkeley, CA?
What I use, as a rule of thumb, is polls of American public opinion on various issues...which I think are usually of adult Americans, but sometimes registered voters. I think of the nation as a whole, when considering political positions. Given this, the center is the median of this distribution. Dan M. > > > >How simple Life must be over there... > > > > Over where? Nowhere in the US I have ever lived meets that description . > . . > > > > > I have not a single idea > >of how to describe myself. I can see all two (three, sometimes) > >sides of an idea as equally valid, and I usually jump between > >sides depending on the opinion of the others (tending to be > >contrarian in most cases). > > > >If you see my voting history, you might think I am a maniac. > > > > In Alabama until at least the 1970s winning the Democratic primary > for governor or many other offices was for all practical purposes > being elected. In other places it may be the Republican candidate > who is a shoo-in. > > > > >I voted for leftist extremists, right extremists, and all > >people in the middle. I voted for honest-but-incompetent people, > >and people I knew were thieves. I've chosen the lesser evil, > > > > Many of us are tired of voting for the lesser evil and wish that just > occasionally we could vote for a good . . . > > > > >but sometimes the greater evil (no, I didn't vote for Cthulhu). > > > > To hear some people talk voting for him/her/it in 2004 would have > been choosing the lesser evil (compared to the candidate who was > [re-]elected) . . . > > > > >Maybe that old saying is true: I have a real part and an imaginary > >part. > > > >Alberto + i Monteiro > > > > I doubt that quaternions or even octonions provide sufficient degrees > of freedom to describe peoples' political positions precisely. Even > limiting ourselves to US politics only. > > > -- Ronn! :) > > > > _______________________________________________ > http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
