toad.social is one of the many independent Mastodon servers you can use to participate in the fediverse.
Mastodon server operated by David Troy, a tech pioneer and investigative journalist addressing threats to democracy. Thoughtful participation and discussion welcome.

Administered by:

Server stats:

218
active users

#instantrunoffvoting

0 posts0 participants0 posts today
Hi, I'm Evan (he/any).

TLDR: I'm a privileged white hetero-cis-male politically #left #TriratnaBuddhist #SoftwareEngineer (#IHelpPeopleGetJobs) currently in #Seattle but planning to move to #AotearoaNZ or #Australia as so as we can manage it with my wife & 3 kids

I'm politically #left (at least in United States terms). I'm a #voting nerd in that I have a favorite voting-related textbook (Collective Decisions and Voting by Nicolaus Tideman).

I think we could mostly solve #gerrymandering by making larger districts with ~5 representatives instead of just 1 and then using #SingleTransferableVote. That would strike a nice balance between local & proportional representation. For single-person positions, like presidents/governors/mayors, STV becomes #RankedChoiceVoting (aka #InstantRunoffVoting aka #AlternativeVote) which eliminates the spoiler effect and leads to more civil campaigns.

Plus, #RankedChoiceVoting eliminates the need for primaries and runoffs, which can lead to significant cost reductions.

I'm training for ordination with the #TriratnaBuddhist Order (#dhamma, #dharma, #Buddhism) and have been for many years. It's a long process, especially with other things going on. I've done some kind of #meditation (mostly #anapanasati) every day for over 3 years and more sporadically since 2006.

That said, I do take issue with some of the things the founder (Sangharakshita) did, and I'm concerned with a recent rise in sort of guru worship around. I can have gratitude for his explanation of the dharma, try to sort out the idiosyncratic bits, and still view him as a deeply flawed human being.

I write #software for http://indeed.com (job search site) (previously employed by Amazon). I've written a lot of #database-backed #webservices in #Java, but in the last few years, I've been working on #microfrontend platforms in #JavaScript & #TypeScript, primarily supporting #React. I have more knowledge about #Webpack #ModuleFederation than anyone should be cursed with. I'd love to try #SolidJS, #RustLang seems really cool, and I'm excited about the future of #WebAssembly.

My wife & I have fantasized about moving to #AotearoaNZ or #Australia since well before the pandemic, and now we're actively trying make it happen. Since we're both in high-demand professions (she's a nurse), I think it should go reasonably smoothly 🤞. Feel free to get in touch with job opportunities that offer visa sponsorship, suggestions for #kiwiana or Australian culture that will help us adapt, reasons that your city is the best, etc. I always blow on the pie when I wear my jandals to the dairy. If we ship things over, I can only hope that the front doesn't fall off the boat. I hear that only rarely happens.

My daughter Juniper was born at the beginning of 2020, so her experience of life and my experience of parenthood are both tightly linked to the pandemic. On the upside, I get to work remotely, which means I get more time with her. She's a lot of fun (and of course a lot of work).

Then, we had our twins Heath & Magnolia (Noli) in September 2023, and our lives got even more hectic and full of love.

Juniper goes to a Waldorf school, and I wish I could go, too, but I think the adult version of Waldorf school might just be therapy.
Replied in thread

@GottaLaff

This is what would happen with #RankedChoiceVoting, also known as #InstantRunoffVoting, except it would save a lot of time and money.

We see that, though Burns was the top vote-getter, most people who voted against him would, if their top-choice candidate didn't make the top two, rather someone else other than Burns get the vote.

People are scared of Ranked Choice Voting "stealing the vote", but I think we'd get more acceptance if it's called #AutomaticRunoffVoting.

Replied in thread

@br00t4c
#RankedChoiceVoting (aka #InstantRunoffVoting) saved a ton of money by eliminating the need for Primaries & Runoffs, mitigates the influence of Big Money, and eliminates #Spoilers & The Two-Party System.

But it cost Sarah #Palin the election when she ran for Congress in '22 (she received more "1st Choice" votes, but her opponent was the 2nd choice of more voters in a wide field of candidates, so she lost.)

#RCV: Less💲, more democratic, Repubs more likely to lose, so it must go.

Fuck The Electoral College
https://deathkitten.net/en/blog/fuck-the-electoral-college
We're headed into a messy election season again. Granted, saying that about a US Election in my lifetime generally makes calling it messy a bit redundant, but I'm including it for emphasis. And once again I'm seeing people talking about voting third party. I am so fucking exhausted by this. Now, let me be clear — my exhaustion rests with my fellow white people. POC have by and large carried our less shitty ...
#Politics #Rant #FirstPastThePost #Biden #Trump #ThirdPartyCandidates #FuckJillStein #NationalPopularVote #RankedChoiceVoting #InstantRunoffVoting #MyFellowWhitePeopleExhaustMe

deathkitten.netFuck The Electoral College | DeathKitten dot NetThe various ramblings of Amy.
Replied in thread

@tofugolem @BernieSanders
I don't know how you can say that. #IRV is the closest thing to a panacea when it comes to fixing our election system. It:

1) Ends the 2-Party system.

2) No more spoilers.

3) It *greatly* mitigates the influence of #BigMoney in politics thanks to shorter & less intense campaigns.

4) Elections become less "confrontational" (fewer attack ads) as candidates strive to be voter's *second* choice as well as first. #InstantRunoffVoting #RCV

Replied in thread

@tofugolem
The quickest/easiest way to "get the money out of politics" is to simply adopt #IRV #InstantRunoffVoting for ALL elections.

This would totally eliminate the most costly part of running for office: "#Primaries" (followed by Runoffs.) No primaries also greatly shortens the time spent running for office, and the time spent by candidates fundraising.
#RCV #RankedChoiceVoting #ElectionReform #CitizensUnited #Congress #money @BernieSanders

(Porting my bookmarks):

The benefits of #RCV / #IRV are manifold:

1) No more (expensive/lengthy) Primaries.
2) No more spoilers. Winner always receives at least 50%+ of the vote.
3) No more 2-Party system.
4) GREATLY mitigates the influence of big money in politics.
5) Would make political debates/ads "nicer" as candidates try not to offend so they are at least someone's 2nd choice.
#InstantRunoffVoting

Replied in thread

@heuser I agree with you that he didn't necessarily need to allow this (fossil fuel dependency need not be powered by U.S. fossil fuels), so I this as a blemish on his record, though I also agree with @RememberUsAlways that there's only one viable major party for climate progress in the US currently, and that's going to continue to be the case at least until we switch enough places away from #FirstPastThePost election systems to #RankedChoiceVoting (a.k.a. #InstantRunoffVoting).

I think it's less useful to see it as a "sin" than to just move onto the next battle, whether it be lawsuits against the project or otherwise.