The Election Show

Of course, I can't speak for all voters, but I'm not all that different than a lot of them. So, consider this to be the voice of all the ones that do feel this way.

Reality Television
When I was a wee lad, I enjoyed me some World Wrestling Federation. It helped that there was actually a cartoon version of all the Wrestlers back then; Hulk Hogan, Roddy Piper, Captain Lou Albano. Good guys, bad guys, all very exciting.

Of course, wee lads grow up, and I eventually learned that it was scripted. As I got older I realized that people would buy tickets because they like this wrestler or that wrestler, but that no matter which wrestler they voted for, the owners got the money and wrote the script. 

As I got even older, I began to notice the pattern applied to other areas of life. I don't know what woke me up to the fact that the "wrestling" was scripted. It's likely someone I trusted told me so and I believed. I do know what woke me up to the fact that World Politicking Federation was scripted though. Occupy. Regardless of whether you think _they_ were repulsive or admirable, the simple fact of the matter is that American citizens were so fed up with the bullshit they took to the streets. All over the country.

The Two-Party System, the Election Show, is scripted and we know it. We've outgrown it. We need a much more sophisticated show now, or the truth. 

I know a lot of you have a belief system that indicates a different perspective. A lot of those belief systems are hindsight for me. I've been there. I grew up in the same society as you. The adults in my life had me believing in Santa Claus, and one day I woke up. I thought professional wrestling was unscripted, I woke up. I thought my party was the good guys and the other party was full of idiots, I woke up. On none of these issues will I go back to sleep. 

If you find yourself disagreeing with the scripted nature of American politics - if you still believe your party are the good guys and the other party is full of idiots, and you mentally balk at the idea because it damages your current belief structures - you can stop reading now and come back when you wake up to this level. You can hit the snooze button, it's not like it's 2012 already.

The Election Show is a Game Show

and everyone is a contestant

There's a little bit here for everyone. The poor and those lacking sufficient social status (like those aren't synonyms) to play in the higher levels get a vivid spectator experience, but with our country's global influence, everyone has a stake in the outcome. The players that happen to live in Western Culture, and especially those that are American Citizens also get a part of the show that lets them think they can affect the outcome. Poor/Societal Leper type American Citizens are in the part of the studio audience on the Price is Right that the contestants have a chance to "come on down" from. 

Some of them _do_ get called down. They get to play the bidding part on the Price is Right. Not only do they believe their vote counts, they think they can help convince the rest of the audience to vote one way or the other, i.e. knocking on doors, campaigning, arguing on the internet, contributing to candidates in four-digit dollar amounts or less. These guys, the ones on contestant's row, they've definitely chosen a side by now. They'll self-label as republican/conservative or democrat/liberal. You can tell people are getting bored of the show, they've added a new character tea-party/libertarian now that social networking allows people to play from home.

A layer or three up on the money/power social hierarchy, the contestants are essentially betting red or black and spinning the roulette wheel. They give to Super-Pacs that buy the ads that try to shape the minds of the lower caste people, and if the ball lands on their color they get lawmakers trying to make them happy so they'll place a bet next election.

The Super-Pacs feed the mainstream media all of the donation money. The people that run the Super-Pacs are the same that are selling tickets to the Election Show, so they know all the production costs will be covered in ticket sales. The mainstream media doesn't bite the hand that feeds it, unless the hand wants them to as part of the show.

Let's change the channel

Watching these latest episodes of the election show - and (more importantly) watching the behavior of all the fans the show has on social networking sites, its plain to see that fear motivates a lot of decision-making in this country. Fear of al-Qaeda (henceforth The Foundation), fear what a President from the OTHER party would do to this country, fear what's happening with this country, fear the economy, fear fear fear fear fear. 

My personal preference would be that we choose our president based on his ability to do the job of a President, thrusting it upon some unsuspecting qualified person instead of giving it to people begging for the job. However, that'd be a big change and change is scary. So, I thought I'd pitch you this idea for a pilot episode of a new show instead.

Election Show: Pool Party

A 'pool' is a thing a lot of Americans do at work. It's probably slightly illegal, but tends to stay within the _no harm, no lawsuits_ category of illegality and is considered very low risk. They take any event considered inevitable and bet on when it is going to happen. Everyone puts their bet in a 'pool' or 'pot' and the person who purchased the closest time to the actual event wins it all.

Let's free up our media to tell the truth. Does anyone like those damn commercials anyway? Let's just have all the money that goes to support a particular candidate go on _red_ or _black_. Every citizen can then bet with their vote. If you vote for the winning candidate, you're included in the payout of all those campaign funds. You'll have to be associated with your vote if your candidate wins to receive payment, though. Who doesn't want to be associated with picking a winner though?

The voters will as ever be the roulette ball, and the upper caste still gets to pick the candidates and everything. I don't want to shake things up too much.

I guess what I'm trying to say is: If you're going to gamble with the fate of the world, the citizens of the country should get to actually play too. 

First Draft #csbookoption1