Elections and World of Warcraft
I just read an amusing but scary post on BldgBlog discussing the American election and the demographics chosen by the media and political campaigns as (mis)representative of "the heart of America".
He refers to a BoingBoing post last year that discusses how there are more World of Warcraft players in the US than farmers (actual farmers, not Chinese gold farmers). When was the last time a politician took their campaign to Azeroth?
It's rather revealing how in the land of democracy (a.k.a. land of majority rules), populations is still valued by its physical geography, by proximity. The problem is that winning over the hearts of WoW players won't secure a win. They aren't (I assume) concentrated enough in any one riding (is it called riding in the US system?) to affect the outcome of the vote. accounts for the difference between popular vote and who wins the election.
It seems elections are more concerned with geography than demography. That use to make sense. There use to be stronger correlations between where you lived and how you lived - what you believed, what issues were of greatest concern, what you wanted from your government. Certainly, there are still regional concerns but how do they compare to national or even global concerns? The weight given to where you live over what you want is disturbing.
And just think of the voter turn out if you had poll stations set up in Shattrath!
He refers to a BoingBoing post last year that discusses how there are more World of Warcraft players in the US than farmers (actual farmers, not Chinese gold farmers). When was the last time a politician took their campaign to Azeroth?
It's rather revealing how in the land of democracy (a.k.a. land of majority rules), populations is still valued by its physical geography, by proximity. The problem is that winning over the hearts of WoW players won't secure a win. They aren't (I assume) concentrated enough in any one riding (is it called riding in the US system?) to affect the outcome of the vote. accounts for the difference between popular vote and who wins the election.
It seems elections are more concerned with geography than demography. That use to make sense. There use to be stronger correlations between where you lived and how you lived - what you believed, what issues were of greatest concern, what you wanted from your government. Certainly, there are still regional concerns but how do they compare to national or even global concerns? The weight given to where you live over what you want is disturbing.
And just think of the voter turn out if you had poll stations set up in Shattrath!
