There are only a few conservative maniacs, but they manage to hold power in Pennsylvania. How does the selfish, rabid minority hold sway? Obviously, the biggest reason is because so few normal people vote. Another reason is that so many of the conservative's opponents have been stripped of their right to vote.
Don't tell me that the extremist conservatives aren't devious and cunning. They have found the way to turn big-city black liberals into rural white conservative maniacs. Follow this apartheid magic. In Philadelphia there are 1000 white guys and 1000 black guys. One of the white guys will get busted. He promptly gets probation and stays in the community where he can vote for the Ridge Reich.
Of the 1000 black guys, 26 will get busted. All but one of them gets slapped into prison. The first effect is that the black vote in the city is diluted by 25 men. But it gets better, much better! What is done with those 25 black guys? The conservatives don't waste them. They are shipped out to rural white conservative districts.
So what?! You ask.
So this. Those 25 blacks are counted in the census, but they aren't allowed to vote. They are added to the population base without adding additional voters. The effect is that the power of each rural white conservative vote is increased. His vote is worth 1.25 votes. At the same time, the power of the big-city black liberal vote is diminished. His vote is worth only .75 of a vote.
You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that with that legal distortion, 15 rural white conservatives have the same voting power as 25 big-city black liberals. It's easy to see how the maniacs hold power.
How can sane people break the grip of the conservative tyrants? Restore the vote to prisoners.
Consider this. There are 36,000 prisoners. That's the size of a medium size Pennsylvania city. It's not much less than the size of Harrisburg. Almost all the prisoners are minorities and most are from urban areas. They have all been transported into rural white conservative voting districts. They have all been counted in the census enhancing the conservative power base.
That 36,000 prisoners means that 1 representative in the legislature should represent just prisoners. Because of the shift of the population, the prisoners represent 36,000 votes taken out of the cities and 72,000 votes added to the conservative rural districts. Instead of 1 representative elected for the prisoners, there are 2 representatives elected against prisoners and against the interests of other oppressed peoples.
Besides such trivial things as the Constitution and decent fairness, why should prisoners vote?
One cause of crime is that minorities fell helpless and victimized. They use a gun to give them a sense of power and worth. Voting allows them to have real power. It exchanges the ballot for the gun. It teaches civic responsibility and helps to stabilize the culture.
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