Next Election Use Paper Ballots
by John Lawrence, February 12, 2018
Some people are all concerned that Russia is going to hack the next election and there's nothing we can do about it. Much hand wringing and nail biting. What are we going to do? Put more sanctions on Russia? There is a simple solution: go back to paper ballots. They're unhackable. Whoever thought that the internet was the solution to all of our problems was just dead wrong. The internet has created as many problems as it's solved. It's left the electric grid hackable. It's left major corporations including banks hackable.
I think some people refuse to entertain the thought that just maybe the ways things were done 50 years ago was superior to the way they are being done today. Paper ballots worked for hundreds of years. They would still work now. Let's just decide to use them and then get on with our business. Someday when a more robust internet and computer system is available, maybe then would be the time to convert to electronic ballots. Until then the way they did it in the olden times will work just fine.
American politicians and media seem to agonize for hours over scandals and stuff while never talking about the solutions to problems or even getting around to discussing the problems themselves. The latest distraction is the sexual harassment imbroglio. They spend hours discussing it. It is only second to the "if it bleeds, it leads" news mantra. At least on Meet the Press yesterday, Peggy Noonan had the guts to come right out and say the solution to the Russian hacking scenario was "paper ballots." So why don't they just do it and get on with other business?
All these things that Americans thought were so great like the internal combustion engine, we're now finding out are killing the environment. Nobody wants to go back to the horse and buggy days, but horses and buggies were sure a lot better for the environment. All this progress that America is so famous for in many cases has only contributed to screwing up the planet. Corporations dump toxic waste creating profits by not paying for these "externalities."
We need to figure out ways to live together in peace and so that everyone has an adequate standard of living. The American values of competition and developing the next greatest gadget and widget in order to keep the economy growing is something that needs to change. We need to upgrade our values and see the world in a different way. Environmental protection and eliminating poverty are paramount.
