this post was submitted on 01 Mar 2025
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Fair Vote Canada: The best way to protect ourselves against an authoritarian takeover is to end a system that lets parties take total control … it’s time to implement proportional representation (bsky.app)
submitted 4 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] Kecessa -2 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Oh, sorry, the RN is both extremist AND authoritarian, so yeah, with PR the authoritarians would have about 50% more seats. So tell me how PR would have helped compared to the left just working together to not split their vote?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Is this how you have conversations with people? If you can't answer something, you move the goal posts?

Anyway, you really aren't understanding the purpose of electoral systems... If the people want a particular ideology, who are you to decide that on their behalf? That's a feature, not a flaw of democracy.

PR protects against authoritarianism for the reasons explained prior: it provides true and uncompromising democratic legitimacy to the government, and vests the power in people without locking them into a two party system.

PR is not intended to prevent or even protect against authoritarianism, so I guess you got me there? But nobody was disputing that claim in the first place.

I'm at the point of wondering if you are genuinely pro-democracy, or just anti-PR -- or even perhaps putting ideology over democracy itself. In a democracy, people are deserving of and entitled to representation -- only PR can get you that. If you are unwilling to accept that fact, then perhaps you are more willing to throw democracy to the fire than I thought.

[–] Kecessa 0 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

I didn't move the goalpost, I just didn't use the word you wanted me to use in my previous message even though we both knew that's what I was talking about.

My point is that PR isn't the panacea that some people make it sound like. If the population votes like idiots you still get an idiotic government. Better education and censorship of extremist ideas (like they do in French Belgium) would protect us much more than a different electoral system.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I just didn’t use the word you wanted me to use in my previous message even though we both knew that’s what I was talking about.

At this point, I honest to goodness don't know what we are talking about.

My point is that PR isn’t the panacea that some people make it sound like.

I actually agree, but that's not what we were discussing. What we were disputing was how FPTP better protects against authoritarianism, and whether this principle supersedes PR (and by proxy democracy itself).

If the population votes like idiots you still get an idiotic government. Better education and censorship of extremist ideas (like they do in French Belgium) would protect us much more than a different electoral system.

Yes, actually, this was the whole point all along!! I'm glad we agree on one thing.

[–] Kecessa 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Yes, actually, this was the whole point all along!! I'm glad we agree on one thing.

Then why share a post that says the best way to protect ourselves against authoritarianism is an electoral reform?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Ah, my apologies, I wasn't as clear as I should have been.

With respect to an external authoritarian take over, a strong democracy (and by proxy PR) is the best way to protect ourselves.

With respect to an internal authoritarian take over... that will require education and censorship of disinformation. FPTP hasn't been demonstrated to help with this by any means.

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