The benefits of rank choice voting

When we elect a new president, it is inevitable that half the country will not be happy. Just look at when Obama was elected or when Trump was elected. In both cases the other side of the isle was not a happy camper. In fact our country is becoming more politically divided each year.
But does our system have to be so bi-partisan? Let's not forget about that the majority of the American public does not consider themselves Democrat or Republican. So why then are those our only two choices?
In this video I explore an alternative that might help heal the political climate.
What do you think the solution is? Write your thoughts below.
Subscribe To My Channel: / @thoughtmonkeyhq
Instagram: / thoughtmonkeyhq

[@flamindigo]

"Choosing between the lesser of two evils, is still choosing evil." Jerry Garcia

[@howardjamespatterson4119]

Evil , less than whole , divided , division of the whole . Without division there could be no articulation in phenomenal nature ( no world , freedom , despair ) . So it seems we as individuals\groups interpret reality differently by subjective\objective experience and gather socially for the unity of strength in matters of goals , wealth , territory ,security . This social communion allows us to explore the heights and depths and everything in between on our journey through the human experience . Right\wrong ? I choose hope and continued expansion in this life !

[@xdestroyer1275]

Title little misleading not gonna lie

[@Kanooodledoodle]

xDestroyer 12 I concur

[@treehouseofliberty3167]

The title + the picture makes it kinda misleading yeah

[@williammcallister7038]

I think you mean clickbait... but then again maybe Thought Monkey was just being thoughtless and forgot what he wanted to talk about...... not a very good impression considering this is the first of his videos I've seen.

[@francogouws3948]

@@williammcallister7038 Agreed

[@codyperales124]

@@francogouws3948 well though monkey is not wrong we will always hate our president

[@stespe06]

I am an Australian, and although I would freely admit that Australia has plenty of problems, I think that our electoral system is one of the best that has been devised. (Note though, that Australian Parties have names that are confusing to non-Australians. For instance, our major Conservative party calls itself the Liberal Party, this has nothing to do with the meaning of liberalism in the USA and elsewhere. Our "Liberal" Party is similar to your Republicans though not as extreme. We have a party that calls itself the National Party, though it is just a rural conservative party. Our closest counterpart to US Democrats is the Australian Labor Party (ALP). ) 1. what you call Rank Choice Voting we name preferential voting. You describe the advantages well - it allows more than two political parties but still allows a reasonably stable system. For example, our Green party has about 10% support across the country, but Greens can vote for their party and be confident that they will not assist in the election of a conservative because their second preference will go to the ALP. The Green vote is concentrated in inner-city electorates and the preferential system has allowed them to pick up a few seats in the Federal and some state parliaments. The same occurs on the other side of politics. The National Party vote is concentrated in some rural areas, but the Preferential system allows them to share votes with the main conservative party, which has support in rural areas as well. 2. You indicated another important element in an electoral system - compulsory or non-compulsory voting. There is a law in Australia which requires every citizen to vote or receive a small fine. The fine is minimal and that is not the major reason why almost everyone votes. The real reason is that a tradition has developed in this country that we all vote at elections. This means that the voter suppression campaigns that exist in some parts of the US are not a viable option, The advantage of this for politics is that it is important to convince people to actively vote for your party rather than just motivate and assist your voter base to get out and vote. 3. We have independent electoral commissions, which determine the boundaries of electorates. I am truly amazed that the US system allows politicians anywhere near the determination of electoral boundaries, which has clearly resulted in lots of anti-democratic gerrymandering. 4. Most of our upper houses use proportional voting which means that most of the time the government - which is determined in the lower house - is not able to control the upper house which means governments have to negotiate their legislation through the upper houses.

[@tnasburypl]

We as Americans cannot vote a President. Some rich guy does that.

[@dianthus63]

Thank you for explaining this. It gives us food for thought. As an American I am so tired of the back forth arguing of our politicians. I often feel we are in a bad divorce where the parents have lost sight of the welfare of their children. I love America! We have a diverse population of caring people. Our politics do not reflect this and they have been elected to represent us. It is shameful.

[@freckles9176]

The US population is too large for this to ever work and same goes for socialism

[@OneWithManyThings]

I’m on board, I also feel like candidates wouldn’t pander as much to “rally their base” under the rank system

[@organicchemistry6357]

The media (MSM) is also to blame, add confirmation bias and you see how it influences your emotions and thought

[@datfisheboi6519]

Don’t forget most other major media channels like Fox News

[@organicchemistry6357]

Dat Fishe Boi that's true. This is why i'm relying more on alternative outlets and remain more focused on reliable publications.

[@joee7809]

N BOR be careful a lot of “alternative news “ is just conspiracy or Extremist media

[@abandonedchannel281]

Joee Yea, a lot of alternatives are messed up.

[@liamnoice8401]

if the voter really educated themselves on the candidates and knew their respective platforms, i would be in favor of this system. The problem i see is that a lot of the voters that already turnout for the polls aren’t educated, and if this system “empowers” people to vote like you say, our chances of getting a bad president because of uninformed people skyrockets. If the voters aren’t informed, the problem is exacerbated.

[@Jane-so9in]

You lost me at "Australia has their shit together." Have you heard of their backward-ass social politics? What works for Australia probably won't work for the U.S. tbh

[@timogul]

I do think it'd be a good idea to switch to ranked voting, but it's important to keep in mind that even with ranked voting, neither Stein nor Johnson would have actually won the election. The primary difference would likely be that the votes they drew away from the Clinton campaign would not have made as much of a difference and she would have won overall.

[@kiwichic05]

The NZ electoral system uses Mixed Member Proportional (MMP). This is a good thing for kiwis because you end up with a diverse coalition govt. At present there is Labor, NZ First, Greens & Maori parties holding seats in Parliament. NZ maybe isolated from the rest of the world but it is very progressive and takes democracy seriously. NZ was the first country to give women the right to vote. First to have LGBTQ MPs. There is also legislation that reserve seats in Parliament for Maori only. There are also alot of young women encouraged to have a voice and join political parties. Example the awesome, Jacinda Ardern. She is the 3rd Female PM in NZ. And even had a baby on the job. Thats how we role lol. Voting is compulsory from 18yo or you receive a fine. Prisoners lose the right to vote when incarated. There are organisations trying to change that. You are given 2 votes: 1 for political party & 1 for the candidate in your electorate. Political parties must get 5% of the party vote or win an electorate before gaining seats in Parliament. Every candidate who wins an electorate gets a seat in Parliament. They are electorate MPs. The MMP system works for NZ because it is inclusive. I def know USA would benefit from having more women in politics & cultural diversity. This creates balance. But all these old cheesy crusty Presidents (not obama lol) that USA citizens have to choose from are fkn embarassing. I feel sorry for y'all man.

[@privateinformation6082]

People who believe voting third partie is a waste vote is a wasted belief

[@28russ]

I live in Aus and yeah the preferential system does make it a bit more confusing but yeah, it also makes me more likely to want to go and vote knowing it want just be throw out if my first preference doesn't win. Although voting is compulsory here so I don't have much bloody choice or pay a fine.

[@hrthrhs]

It wouldn't make a difference. As you said here in Australia we have a Rank Choice voting system yet we still have only 2 major parties. All that happens is smaller parties join to form a coalition - which is what happened with the Liberals and the National parties, which have now become the Liberal National Party (LNP) also know as The Coalition.

[@espresso444]

The problem with rank-choice voting comes in to play when there are 3 candidates, and 2 are so odious that you end up voting for only your one choice. As flamindigo says: "Choosing between the lesser of two evils, is still choosing evil." Jerry Garcia

[@miketrusiewicz]

Yes! Ranked choice voting will make our democracy much stronger. Candidate polarization will become less since earning a majority will require more main stream Proposals for solutions.

[@bonedigger666]

I've never talked to an Australia that would say their country had it's (Stuff*) together. And I love our President.

[@quinnflorence]

I think this might work all well in theory but we still have the pain of making that reality and people not really agreed or pushing back on this ideas because it challenges them too much or is “ too scary or too radical “ I do see any issue with this rank based voting 🗳 but it people in power that in the end make the choice for us what system works. Take care everyone and stay safe out there.

[@rushopolis]

I love him.

[@sdjosh9081]

we can try it... why not :)

[@micahqgecko]

I don’t understand how this answers the title of the video. From the phrasing of it I thought you were going to suggest why most individuals might blame the President for whatever is wrong in the country or something along those lines. Even if you meant you in the plural sense, it still does not address that question. “Most Americans are not Democrats or Republicans” does not mean “Most Americans will hate the current US president.” The content presented here isn’t even groundbreaking and there is no real nuance. Overall, the title of the video is misleading and the content of the video is uninteresting as it has been covered to death on youtube.

[@aestheticdegen]

Or maybe you has a preconceived notion and thought this video was going to fulfill what you wanted to hear "the reason you will always hate our president" could refer to many many things

[@Saturn-uz6jc]

Why the reupload?

[@ThoughtMonkeyhq]

Thought I had rendered it in the wrong resolution :/

[@chloejones7748]

in Australia we also have mandatory voting, so as soon as you turn 18 you have to register to vote

[@Lolothelemon]

Hey my guy. I just found you but you haven’t posted anything in, from what I can see, 2 years.. Was hoping you had some more incite on things going on today. I’m subscribed so hope to see more. Thanks! ❤️

[@addisondrake733]

I like your idea (though I’m a little confused by it), but I want to add a thought. I think the runner up should be the vice president. Granted if we were basing this on the 2016 election, we would have Trump as president and HRC as vice president it would probably be the worst presidential team in the history of the United States. I think part of the reason the parties are so divided is that we don’t have to reach across the aisle and nice with one another.

[@Kanooodledoodle]

Addison Drake I think that's actually a great idea

[@rusher5283]

Sorry that this is a year late. By runner up you mean the one with the most votes (Besides the winner), right? This idea is not so good. This idea was actually implemented early in elections and it failed very often, so they removed it. It would usually cause very little agreement between the president and vp which led to a harsh 4 years.

[@siononalundula1699]

Addison Drake if the President and Vice President were from different party, that would be bad for the country. Those 2 offices are supposed to be working as a team, not against each other. Not to mention that the life of the President would be even more at risk than it already is, because a supporter of the losing candidate could just try to kill the President so that their preferred candidate comes into power. America used this system in its early history and it went horribly. Hence why the President and Vice President are now elected on the same ballot.

[@grandmamaggie]

Here’s the problem. With no electoral college people in New York and California would control every election. That excludes almost the entire country. That would not be right.

[@charleshessproductions]

100-27-25 = 46?? hmm.

[@jasonfire3434]

Winner-take-all contributes to it, but I also think most humans are too dumb to think in anything but binary terms. Right vs. Left, Conservative vs. Liberal, Republican vs. Democrat, White vs. Minority, Christian vs. Not... This country is great at dividing itself in two and not great at dividing in more than two or uniting as one.

[@tnyvel2041]

Down with the ranking. 👍

[@nataliewilliams9741]

You ever gonna make another video? Been a year . . .

[@iamaloafofbread8926]

The electrical system and gerrymandering are the reasons voting is down the shitter.

[@ianhardcastle3717]

They have it in Australia, New Zealand and places closer to home, like the mayoral elections Oakland and San Francisco.

[@LuckoDaStars]

But ranking says I'm done sound like a great idea for America since it does follow the very philosophy of our country to have the power of choice. Although I will say Australia as an example with their politics is not that good of an argument but the concept is still good granted. The only issue regarding to this particular ranking system is that there will likely be more pressure to force someone to be number one as well as some other underhanded tactics that came up during the whole Obama second-term election. On top of that could potentially be exploited. And the fact that the citizens themselves have a very low trust in their government as well as the complete disconnect with a lot of the candidates with its people as well as its government rearing its ugly head. But I do firmly agree that we as a nation should not have a two party system anymore.

[@datfisheboi6519]

There is still pressure on who to vote for now, except in Ranked Choice, you still get to vote for the person you want to vote for.

[@randpaul3860]

It's still choosing the lesser evil. Getting through the primary system always gets to the lesser of evils.

[@dritong9727]

hieararchy will always fail. power always corrupts. it doesnt matter if you rank four votes vor four oligarchs with voting one oligarch between three others. so long as they will work for the power elite, the ruling class, the majority of people will be opressed and exploited. Same shit in Australia, its free market that make important decisions for the people who live in the illusion of freedom. Choosing your oligarchs is not democracy. Your job is one of the most important parts of your life, but the working class have no right to be part of a collective that takes decisions based on the common interest with the principles of solidarity and direct democracy.

[@ktkitty1903]

1) Europe has multiple political parties and it isn't working out for them. It's a mess with the EU making the laws for the individual European countries. Their no longer individual free countries. Sweden multiple political parties don't get along and it takes months to achieve a consensus. Similar problem in England. EU laws override individual countries. They haven't realized that they have become slaves. 2) Rank Choice is not a good system. The few larger populated states would determine who would be elected. The smaller populated states votes wouldn't even count. The current system makes all states equal. Please reseach and revisit this voting choice. It's a disaster for the number of smaller populated states, which out number the few larger states. The smaller populated states would never stand a chance.

[@metawarp7446]

I hope we'll see president ranking elections soon in Finland. Maybe we would get more people voting.

[@Fleados]

MetaTeoria Olis kyl kiva kokeilu ens vaaleis. Hyväs lykys voi jäädä pysyväks.

[@jeremyconner7793]

it is funny that he says i will always hate the president when i don't

[@wassup934]

Sneaky is what it is, it looks actually takes loosing opponents votes and gives them to the runner up ?

[@TheShoreman1]

I can picture it now. 47 candidates on the ballot. You overhear the guy in front of you in the voting both talking to himself: "I guess that he would be my thirty-fifth choice if so and so doesn't win." Someone demands a recount and the whole system of government just collapses...

[@ThePandaDen]

Imagine the debates! Each candidate would get 1 second to respond just so they can present more than 1 question and not take up the entire 2 hours because you know that they are going to talk over each other and argue.

[@chriscockrell9495]

Ranked choice is fine. The current electoral college is fine too. All or none on electoral votes is problematic, but that is a state issue, not a "we should overhaul the electoral college" issue. If all or none is unhealthy, don't let your state use it.

[@jaysps3]

We have it here in ireland and yet we still have a 2 party system

[@iamchillydogg]

There's no such thing as the popular vote. Those who voted on Nov 8 were voting for their states electors. Both candidates got zero votes that day. Trump was elected on Dec 19 by the electors.

[@melonhead8052]

Australia has a (in my opinion ) better voting system that isn’t just first past the post

[@dannydejayeff7152]

I don't think I'm a dummy, but two friends of mine (both of whom I consider to be VERY intelligent) have tried to explain ranked voting to me. Neither one succeeded, only leaving me with more questions than answers, and somewhat contradicting each other. THIS video did a much better job, but I'm not going to tell my friends that. Maybe I just need cartoons to understand. While it doesn't explicitly say so, the Electoral College NEEDS to go. Simple majority voting makes FAR more sense for our de facto two-party system. But ranked voting would appear to give voices to others outside of our Republican/Democrat binary system, which has been sorely lacking. If we are going to continue with our present long-outdated system, I wish we were at least provided with a "None Of The Above" option so that dissatisfied voters can let politicians know exactly how many of our citizens are unhappy with them. No more just sitting out elections (which I wish were compulsory, like in Australia). Sitting out doesn't prove your point, because you go unnoticed. Maybe that serves yourself, but if you're expecting to make a difference, you're sorely mistaken. These changes might not change the outcome of the elections, but it at least puts the system on notice that we want better for our country.

[@emmett1365]

Thank you for your knowledgeable videos

[@p.stratrovare5912]

You kidding me about "Australia has their shit together." Have you checked out their current political mess? What worked for NZ really went to crap for Oz.

[@MMfish_]

I miss your videos

[@aarontoles5988]

Yes. By actually giving people the right to vote for who they want, of course this system is more helpful for democracy than the one we have in place.

[@angelgirldebbiejo]

Why can't we have like 5 run for like prime minister....that way we are all same side

[@natemcmasters9885]

If it's rank choice voting, how would you decide who gets their name on the ballet. Petitions?

[@oliverrainer5771]

How well they're polling. Maybe have an arbitrary number like 5 or 6 for the amount of candidates available

[@lilevola4885]

In Australia our political parties are abysmal.

[@funveeable]

I'll bet you a million dollars that with a Democrat run federal government, this ranked choice won't even be mentioned once for the next 2 years.

[@jaymoge]

I've thought this way for years but never knew what it was called, but slightly different. I think we should be able to rank our choices and those rankings would raise that candidates score by that many. For example, if Gary Johnson was my first choice out of 4 he would get 4 points, and if Jill Stein was my second she gets 3, Donald 2 and Hillary 1. at the end of the election the candidate with the most points wins the presidency. My brain toyed with the idea the the vice pres should maybe the the 2nd place candidate however further thinking deemed that impractical as the 2 would likely be opposing parties and NEVER get along long enough to decide what's for breakfast let along the country. I'd be in favor or Rank Choice Voting, that way no matter the outcome you can't bitch (though many will) it's like losing the superbowl, if you tried you best and it didn't happen.... try harder next time. If the shop on the corner isn't popular with the locals and no one goes there, then that's just the communities way of saying, you may be in the wrong location for this. Not that it's wrong or bad just not preferred.

[@oliverrainer5771]

Your point system would yield the same results of the spoiler effect as people would want to give the most votes to someone they would want to win. Ranked choice voting is better than this imo.

[@jaymoge]

@@oliverrainer5771 I probably don't understand the difference but I think you're right. Not that either would happen though, we can't even ensure that "one citizen = one vote" with the way they want mail in ballots collected and counted by people they trust. Trust to "do the right thing" which means throw out Trump votes, pay for Obiden votes and cheat anyway possible to win.

[@oliverrainer5771]

@@jaymoge One thing tho is that there's no evidence that mail in ballots are full of cheating or corruption. 25% of voters as well as three states in 2018 voted by mail and there wasnt any evidence of any corruption or cheating abroad. We'll be fine this election, don't worry

[@jaymoge]

@@oliverrainer5771 I'm not worried at all but you have to think ahead, what will they do in 4 more years? Absentee ballots are requested by an identifiable person, mail in ballots can be easily fudged. Fake names, deceased people, homeless people paid to vote for a certain candidate the list goes on. It's happening now, 9 mail in ballots were found in a road side ditch last week and 7 were Trump votes. What are we not seeing. I don't want the option to cheat from either side, they only don't want us to cheat it's ok for them. Nasty Pelosi lives in a gated community but opposes Trump's wall, she's got $200 worth of gourmet ice cream in a $10,000 fridge in her $50 million house. She, and everyone who has to bow to her, feeds the corporations regulations that help them make money in turn she gets millions donated to keep the power driven money machine going and going. They only need to convince enough people to vote for them by giving away money, food, phones, education, housing and free health care. Basically saying "we need you to need us" and everyone thinks life is great I don't have to work hard or earn anything.

[@oliverrainer5771]

@@jaymoge There's so much wrong with this there's no point it picking apart every piece. You went on a random tangent at the end too that really doesn't have to do anything with voting methods, much less ranked choice voting. Either way tho, here's a response to the whole votes found in a ditch thing. www.wbay.com/2020/10/01/elections-official-no-ballots-were-in-mail-found-on-outagamie-county-roadside/

[@anavarro]

Curious on your thoughts about what's happening in 2020.

[@tochoXK3]

„You waste your vote if you vote for a third party“ really does seem like a self-fulfilling prophecy

[@RemsonJohn]

This actually a stupid idea. Oscar uses this type of voting and the movie which is preferred 2nd or 3rd by most always wins. That means nobody gets their first choice ever.

[@bobthedj6992]

Remson John Pellisserry yes but everybody gets an acceptable choice. Preferential voting finds middle ground and than means less extreme candidates which is what we want most of the time.

[@iamchillydogg]

So put your least favorite first.

[@Daniel-Jack]

as an Australian have found this system to be shit

[@bubbabluehorn]

Electoral voting is fine just not the 15% needed to debate in the main streamed debates is stupid

[@plaguedreloaded738]

Cover Distributism as an economic and political system

[@christhomae3277]

I’m on board

[@madladdreamers9472]

I wish you could have Chris Evens on the show omg.

[@aticosmos5156]

Rank-choice voting will help or hurt? I vote it will help...

[@osamitsu]

my only question is ; how to get rank voting.

[@V1per1Real]

I wish of a future where kids don’t have to go to school unless they want to and the day the president isn’t racist etc let’s have a Mexican become a USA president

[@freckles9176]

Bad idea. We need to be decisive period.

[@namikazemoon]

is it bad that I’m packing more than trump

[@noahjenkins5008]

Totally Agree!!

[@right-7366]

idk what your talking about not my president

[@jimrose71]

an idea

[@owenmurray1745]

How we gonna implement rank choice into electoral college?

[@LifeWithParole]

I presume you would count each state's ballots and by eliminating the least popular candidates, you would reach a race against two candidates. The candidate that has the most votes will receive the nomination from that state.

[@mind5367]

I actually love this

[@Polyglot_English]

CGP Grey did it

[@domenickriggio684]

im likin the Roy Hardgrove in the background

[@bigmike4133]

It sounds so simple and so epic at the same time.

[@hardeez1]

Trump 2020

[@parkerlindmasterson7705]

no

[@DaisyHollowBooks]

I think it's a good idea.

[@frankierock1130]

Anarchy 2020 phucq yer vote I AM FRANKIEROCK

[@drhow948]

Gee, 2 questions come to mind, first would you be making the same argument had Hillary won the Electoral College and do your really think your system would work fairly in Florida?

[@satanaka2011]

I think your opinion is yours to have but it is not always right.

[@kevinmartin6419]

America is a republic

[@davidtompkins1234]

You lost me at democracy instead of constitutional Republic

[@alejandradc7667]

Hey, just curious, Who is signing Donal's trump birthday card lol?

[@mikepdx7255]

Ye

[@frisk4520]

We have so many terrible nominees.

[@cupcakes1742]

Well, that's too bad... I was going to subscribe to him too. Oh well. ;/

[@nathalieuy4055]

Look at the Philippine president 1.Shutting down ALL ONLINE GAMES 2.Shutting down all apps (except KZbin Instagram and viber

[@manuelreingen8795]

First one on the survey!

[@ciggityliggity7039]

I love my president I’m a libertarian

[@treboleekem499]

But voting is still voting on lesser evils. Just more choices. In that scenario

[@treboleekem499]

Anarchy!!!!!

[@OneWithManyThings]

The two people to choose from could be conceivably the “most evil” of the bunch. But in the case of 4+ options, it won’t be narrowed down to just two.

[@treboleekem499]

Maybe, but the thing I don't like is that the majority gets to oppress the minority.

[@treboleekem499]

Channel: academy of ideas Video: why voting won't lead to freedom This video gives a good argument as to why the voting system can't fix our issues

[@aarontoles5988]

@@treboleekem499 So you are against democracy?

[@fatuusdottore]

I don’t hate him tho, lol.

[@LeBronthemvpboss6]

whos watching during the 2020 election lol

[@PreachTheTruth]

What happened to this channel?

[@citrus_aves]

Highly preferred the format with just the voiceover and without video of you talking, but regardless ♡ your videos :)

[@alphamarigi]

Australia and New Zealand have Chinese money in their politics tho

[@declanbennett1808]

alphamarigi We Kiwis and Aussues do that because we can't trust the Americans with there handling of the global economy. Anyway, what does that have to do with the voting system?

[@alphamarigi]

Declan Bennett the video said those people had their shit together. Having organ harvester money in your politics is not having your shit together.

[@declanbennett1808]

Oh, and spreading radiation to neighbouring countries to see the effects of radiation poisoning is somehow better? Look, we went with the Chinese and Russians to help out our economy and make everyday items cheaper because it's more convenient for us to do so, why would we deliberately make things harder for ourselves. Also, we are not involved in the organ harvesting market and that's completely out of our control, how's that bad anyway as last I checked people in the US are dying because of a lack of organs being donated

[@kings9724]

Tin Foil you are an idiot

[@hobotastic2203]

100%-25%-27%=48% not 46% 0:38

[@casyfire9453]

haven't watched but think its about trump.

[@samuelt3236]

Depends, a voting system like this would be even more complicated than it already is.

[@coltentackett892]

a little bit but it would break the two party system

[@OutlawAlexander]

You mean Republic.

[@freefalling2earth]

why you'll always bait people into a video and say something else. Hate is a strong word.

[@priscillabethable]

Yes; been advocating for this for a long time. Good luck getting a Constitutional Amendment to allow it.

[@thebuilder3594]

I don't. *L*

[@imperatrixumbrosa8443]

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