Friday, August 1, 2014

The solution to the problem is to define it as a non-problem.

Ann Althouse has a post, The solution to the problem of low turnout is to see it as a nonproblem.

Her solution is a different variant on a formulation I use with teams who have been assigned to solve a problem. There are two questions posed - 1) Is the problem real? and 2) For those proposing that it needs solving, what business is it of theirs to solve it?

The first question is where we usually end up spending the most time. Usually the problem isn't what they thought it was, either in terms of magnitude or in terms of nature and origin. Only occasionally do we get to the second question which really usually has pertinence mostly in joint-ventures, alliance relationships or altruistic initiatives.

Why should someone be concerned about low voter turnout? Lots of hypothetical reasons but it does come down to, what is their interest in a higher turnout? Cui bono? As Cicer reported -
L. Cassius ille quem populus Romanus verissimum et sapientissimum iudicem putabat identidem in causis quaerere solebat 'cui bono' fuisset.

The famous Lucius Cassius, whom the Roman people used to regard as a very honest and wise judge, was in the habit of asking, time and again, 'To whose benefit?'
Low voter turnout is a problem only to someone who stands to benefit in some way (or thinks they will benefit) from higher voter turnout. Absent a clear understanding of who benefits and how, most problems are best left alone, or, as Althouse puts it, to see things as a nonproblem until they have been proven to be a problem.

Not that that is likely to happen. Most controversies that hog the headlines today seem primarily about things that will benefit particular individuals or selected groups to the disadvantage of others. The advocates have to exaggerate the severity and breadth of impact of the issue and have to hide the negative consequences that will redound to others through undertaking the advocate's proposed solution. Our public discourse is dominated by deceptive efforts to create problems where problems were not known to exist.

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