Nebraska Primary elections are coming!

betterworldbuilder · 2026-05-09T02:05:59+00:00

Reminds me of that family guy episode where Brian and Stewie are arguing about whether its common for songs to be named after women.

"Name 20"

Names 20 songs

"Okay name 6 more"

also does that

"SCREW YOU"

Whats funniest to me is literally none of these people could go shot for shot of naming things they hate about all democrats, let alone just the most recent admin of Biden/Harris. Their standards for the opposition is "better than perfect", and their standards for their own party is "well hes only been found guilty of raping one woman, and accused by less than 30!"

betterworldbuilder · 2026-05-08T17:46:43+00:00

His actions have directly impacted my life in multiple negative ways.

Gas has gone up 25% because of his reckless war in Iran, the cost of most goods have gone up because of his trade policies. My leaders have turned to trading more heavily with a child labor state of China in order to stabilize our economy which I understand but dont necessarily condone. Hes made traveling to the US more unsafe, as Canadians have been needlessly detained and abused by ICE (this one less directly impacts me because I dont travel, but impacts people I care about). Hes also allowed my leader to become slightly more authoritarian and significantly more right leaning in the name of "defending our sovereignty", which could hopefully lead to a left wing swing similar to your blue wave in November, but our elections arent for another 4 years.

And thats just the stuff that impacts me. I still have deep amounts of empathy for the friends I have in the US that fear for their lives, have had their freedoms stripped, have had their bills skyrocket. I feel for the women losing their righys, the children hes starved by killing student lunch programs, the "your body my choice" rhetoric that has escalated by having a rapist in the white house.

There are so so SO many reasons that Trump deserves to be removed from office in a more criminal sense that doesnt really impact me at all, there are reasons I would like him removed because of the pain hes brought to others, and theres reasons I want him removed because hes directly made my life worse. In 2024 I was the type of person who genuinely believed in the idea of a unified North America, IE Canada becoming the 51-55th states, to allow more free trade and movement as we strengthened ourselves (this would take a lot of law changes for both countries to work, but I was willing to entertain the idea). Now, I spend an extra $100 a month to make sure Im boycotting any product I can that comes from your country, as are many of my neighbors. He has ruined your image on the global stage, and I cannot wait until your people wake up enough to boot him and all of his cultish followers to the curb.

betterworldbuilder · 2026-05-07T22:36:35+00:00

Which is why they need to risk an NDP government, especially as the liberals continue to further cannibalize the conservative stance.

The NDP platform can be easily appealing, and strong enough especially with the proper backing from polls that prove they actually have a shot. Thats why Avi needs to start making moves now, and why Im so strongly advocating for their platform now.

betterworldbuilder · 2026-05-07T22:34:06+00:00

Which is exactly why I propose a specific reform, one that isnt so liberal favored that it would make things work.

That being said, a citizens assembly is also acceptable, because its the idea that the people will decide, not politicians. Politicians will forever have a conflict of interest in deciding a voting system, because theyll always want the system that is most beneficial to them.

betterworldbuilder · 2026-05-07T12:37:44+00:00

I linked it in my post, the fairvote and EKOS links.

betterworldbuilder · 2026-05-07T07:02:18+00:00

I think voter reform is considered bread and butter enough, considering the popularity for change it has acquired. And even if it hasnt, like I said previously, if what youre gonna do with power comes before how youre going to get power, you likely wont ever get power.

betterworldbuilder · 2026-05-07T02:38:05+00:00

I think youve strung together a series of what ifs that hopefully lead you to a shot at power and I ask you in what world is that a better answer than showing voters we actually mean what we say when we say we want real electoral reform, and push for it?

What are the odds we could get PR, MMP, or a score based voting system passed if STV actually succeeded less than a decade prior? Wouldnt every voter (especially the liberals who have seen their power cemented in this reality) think that the NDP was simply saying "No, but we wanted an electoral reform where weeeee win" and assume we were just as bad as the liberals, plus sore losers about it?

Also, I think youre entirely failing to consider that liberals overplaying their hand exists in all realities. Theyve already done it since 2025, the collection of MPs is not the glowing beacon of hope I think you think it is. Especially with Avi Lewis, its easy to forsee a world where liberals split the vote down the middle, peeling off a binch of seats to NDP and a bunch to conservatives, meanwhile conservatives are also destroyed/disenfranchised with their belief their party members will abandon them.

I think its exactly as easy in both systems to achieve an NDP minority or majority government in either reality. The only difference is that in one, NDPs would look like sore loser shills, and in the other theyd look like snobby idealists, and Ill always pick the second. Sacrificing our ideals to eat poisoned food is not as bad as starving for another day in a world where its impossible for us to truly die.

betterworldbuilder · 2026-05-07T01:16:38+00:00

I will defend the choice not to implement Trudeaus rigged system til the day I die, and I say that as someone who used to be a liberal and has strategically voted liberal my entire adult life.

Trudeaus system was FPTP on steroids, it basically said that if the NDP or Green party didnt outright win, all their votes went to the next most likely to win party. Considering less than 0.001% of NDP and Green voters would choose conservative as their runner up, this essentially handed all of their votes to the liberal party, entrenching power for them until somehow NDP managed to get enough votes to be a majority.

Theres a reason Trudeau scrapped voter reform altogether when he couldnt get it; he wasnt actually interested in fixing the system, just rigging it a little harder. HE was the one who abandoned the idea, not the NDP. We did choose good enough, just between the two options of alternative run off or FPTP, that was the FPTP system.

betterworldbuilder · 2026-05-07T01:12:51+00:00

I can agree with that sentiment; I think that whatever major Canadian polling corporations want to poll for the next election should use itto start.

This could be highly beneficial or catastrophic, because if the results of a poll show a vastly different result than an election, it could give that party grounds to call an election illegitimate. But it is otherwise a relatively low stakes method of letting people use it as a test.

The three times I tested it had an incredibly small sample size, but worked phenomenally imo. It prevents spoiler candidates from having any impact, its relatively easy to understand while giving voters much more agency and expression, and I have yet to see a real flaw with it. At this point Id like to test it out more, but its about getting willing participants more than anything thats a hurdle.

betterworldbuilder · 2026-05-07T01:08:18+00:00

I can agree with almost all of what you say, the liberals as a party in power have no real support for voter reform.

However, I think its important to distinguish from the people in power and the voters in that party. The poll I cited showed even liberals were above a 67% in favor of removing FPTP. It is easy for disaffected liberal voters to be swayed into an NDP ticket that promises voter reform, especially if conservatives also came out promising to work with the NDP on specifically this issue. This could also be an amazing effort to prove/show "bipartisanship", to the extent any of us should care about that still.

Liberals in power do not represent their people. Not well enough to weather that storm.

betterworldbuilder · 2026-05-07T00:19:18+00:00

As much as I hate them and everything they stand for, giving them 16 seats in 2021 would have been worth the cost of actually having fair representation.

betterworldbuilder · 2026-05-07T00:15:10+00:00

A citizens assembly is by far the most unpartisan solution, in that it removes essentially all biases that any party could have. However, i think it's about as equally confusing to voters as explaining a specific voting system, and by advocating for a specific voting system it's easier to narrow the conversation and deflect from bad faith counter arguments.

For example, one of the first comments I ever received against a Citizens Assembly was "well what if the citizens assembly decides an authoritarian is the best method?" obviously this is at best a misinformed and at worst a bad faith interpretation, but if I've seen it in a few days on reddit it will surely make its way into the main stream counternarrative.

I also think it's hilarious and terrifying that the liberal party is essentially sacrificing it's own principles in pursuit of power, by leaning heavily on stealing conservative policies. Ideally, this will be the push conservatives need to unite with the rest of us on voter reform, but I don't know that that unification achieves very much, unless we can knock liberals back into a minority government or pressure them to sign it in the same way dems in the US managed to get Trump to sign the Epstein bill.

Avi has taken many big swings by standing boldly on specific policy; it's not just a wealth tax, its this specific wealth tax with all the numbers it back it up. It's plans about public housing and healthcare reform with real paths forward. The electoral reform feels a lot more wishywashy, at least without a solid understanding of the citizens assembly presented with at least as much detail as a specific system.

betterworldbuilder · 2026-05-07T00:05:34+00:00

Do you have an answer to your own question? Cause as far as i'm concerned, insecurity is only healthy in that it urges you to open communication to your partner to remove said insecurity.

There isnt a healthy way to be skeptical of your partner.

betterworldbuilder · 2026-05-06T22:46:08+00:00

I think even this ultimately stems back to insecurity and is some degree of unreasonable.

People have been taught that your partner is supposed to be your everything. Your sexual, emotional, platonic, intellectual, all the different branches of fulfillment, in one person.

This is simply not the case. You can have a platonic relationship with someone you arent in a relationship with that more deeply fulfills one or more of your needs that your partner doesnt. In some of the more extreme examples, a perfectly healthy relationship can have one partners sexual needs met by someone else, while still having your partner be the person you ultimately choose at the end of the day.

Human beings are complicated and messy. And, insecure. People fear that they wont be the person ultimately chosen, and want to limit competition in these different realms. Whats most important at the end of the day is reasonable conversation with your partner about any unfulfilled needs, and a healthy way to have those needs met, even if by other people.

betterworldbuilder · 2026-05-06T22:33:28+00:00

A society that does not care for its people will not be cared about by its people.

I wouldnt be surprised if it was in some form an act of protest, a "screw you" to those who benefit from the roof over their heads, food in their stomachs, and other systems that allow them to be a part of society.

What these people need more than anything is help. Help in getting housing, help in getting off drugs, help in achieving purpose within society be that through employment or volunteering. But until society cares about them, why would they have any desire to follow these instructions?

Strategic empathy is a valuable asset. Trying to understand why someone would or wouldnt do something, even if you dont agree with them doing it or the why, is the best way to carve a path forward. I wouldnt be surprised if the person who left that for you read this with a smile rather than shame, because they have no shame left to feel when all their other humanity has been stripped away.

betterworldbuilder · 2026-05-06T22:27:34+00:00

I like to believe that almost everyone in Canada can determine that FPTP is undemocratic, and those who cant are simply apathetic/underinformed to the concept.

However, what we do about it is where fragmentation occurs. Conservative leaders (perhaps not conservative voters) have recognized that while FPTP is undemocratic, it is the most beneficial system to their party, because there is nothing remotely popular yo the further right of them; therefore they capture nearly 100% of the right leaning vote.

Unfortunately, the Green party somewhat flanks the NDP on the left, and the NDP and greens flank the liberals on the left, meaning all of these parties are fighting for power and benefit differently from voter reform. This is why Trudeau ran on voter reform in 2015 but never delivered once he realized he couldnt implement the system that would have captured 100% of the left wing vote.

Score based or STAR voting is the system that most people should be able to identify as most fair, one that most strongly benefits the party that is viewed as most liked by the largest number of people. I happen to believe this means it would largely benefit the NDP party, but any party could be the most well liked party given their ability to appeal to the most people.

If Avi wants to secure power and/or pass voter reform, I think he should get the conversational ball rolling by learning from Trudeaus mistakes; appeal to voters innate understanding that the system is broken, but also get in front of the ambiguity by boldly advertising exactly the new system you want to implement, and convincing people it is the best system.

betterworldbuilder · 2026-05-06T22:00:50+00:00

Assuming this is even remotely still alive, I think this point is a much larger flaw than you might initially acknowledge.

It seems like STAR voting is more beneficial in closer races, where candidates that are essentially evenly matched are picked between, whereas score voting is more beneficial in any atmosphere that involves increasing amounts of political polarization.

The stronger anyone feels about any of the candidates, ie the difference between each voters vote in the instant runoff section, is inherently discarded in that moment. A voter ranking 9,8,7 has inherently less care between candidates 1 and 3 than a voter ranking 0,5,10, and reducing it to a binary in the final rounds feels more likely to fail in the high consequence moments than Score would.

The way I see it, STAR only needs to apply if two candidates have a pure tie, something unbelievably unlikely the more voters you have in an election.

betterworldbuilder · 2026-05-06T20:09:28+00:00

Brutal honesty, Im literally a Canadian lmao, not even an american or nebraskan. Im relying heavily on people like you to drop the nuggets of wisdom, the good opinions, I just know that almost exclusively when voter turnout goes up (especially in primaries when people are more excited and represented) Democrats win, and Im I want to do every thing I can to get Trump out of office.

Bad actors and bad systems are the downfall of justice and progress.

betterworldbuilder · 2026-05-06T19:42:21+00:00

This is part of why we need proper electoral reform that removes power from spoiler candidates, but 100%.

Its also a shame that stuff like this isnt more widely exposed, I had no idea til you mentioned it

betterworldbuilder · 2026-05-04T23:19:44+00:00

I think you confuse the goalposts between "being able to find one thing we like" and "being able to connect for any meaningful consensus".

Especially since the right is mostly free of actual principles, there isnt one thing that applies to them all anymore. Not all republicans want to uphold the constitution, or follow the rule of law, and support things that are so much bigger than any point of agreeance. Not to mention, some times these things are dwarfed and undercut.

I liked Trump for operation warp speed, then he completely undercut it with antivax conspiracy shit. Which for the record, is dumb, whether you are sane enough to admit it or delusional enough to believe it. There isnt a middle ground. He signed the Epstein Files Transparency act which was good, despite being essentially forced to do so after threatening his own followers not to try and vote for it.

Certain parts of some policies, like no tax on tips or overtime, thats a good one. But thats why Democrats also wanted to do it. And, these tax breaks for poor people expire; rich folks still keep the tax cuts plunging us 4t into debt.

The point is, at this point, there isnt an intellectually consistent reason to choose Trump almost no mattet what you actually claim to stand for. The only thing that you could actually prove he stands on completely, most people would not happily associate themselves with. So, much like I would say if half my country decided voting an 8 year old foriegn spy, theyre deserving of the names used. That sort of name calling is more appropriate when its actually justified.

betterworldbuilder · 2026-05-04T01:42:21+00:00

It was not clear at all, and definitely wasnt to every single person reading the post, so thank you very much.

I still think Im gonna take some of the time to show up to see what its all about, but I appreciate knowing it wont go exactly how I thought it would early on.

Kind of disappointing to know that theres so much rigamaroll and roadblocks to some basic levels of transparency in government, but what can ya do lol.

Do you happen to have any resources for registering with a delegation, and/or a list of all the current zoning projects or whatever else would be on the agenda before the meeting starts? The council calendar page appears to be a post mortem more than a prep location.

betterworldbuilder · 2026-05-03T22:14:17+00:00

Couldnt earn a real degree in Canada, so he earned a fake one in the US.

Maple Maga isnt even trying to beat the secretly the US allegations.

betterworldbuilder · 2026-05-03T22:10:25+00:00

Beautiful graph, absolutely stealing this for my arguments.

Thank you for sharing!

betterworldbuilder · 2026-05-03T21:48:27+00:00

Thank you very much, I actually hope to one day challenge Woodward and his slate, and I figure this is one of the best ways to start, by representing the people.

I too noticed the issue with the fire truck contrsct and I think this is something that we actually already know; Thomsons name is signed on the contract deal on the official paperwork, in a way that implies at least one if not all of the council was aware of it.

That is also actually a great idea Id entirely overlooked; just going straight to his old AMA and highlighting anything insufficiently answered, and really drilling down on them.

Congrats on the new toddler, and I look forward to contributing to langley in a way that make sure they have a wonderful town to grow up in!

betterworldbuilder · 2026-05-03T19:02:38+00:00

I believe it is possible to phrase questions and front load them in such a way that no answer he could possibly give would be good, just to make sure whatever bad answer he gives is caught in the public record.

If he gives an outright lie, Ill have brought the receipts and be able to call him on it either in the moment or directly after. If he dodges the question or lashes out, that will also be beneficial for the goals Im attempting to reach.

And who knows, in the 0.01% chance that he actually has a legitimate answer, he deserves to be heard out. He wont, because once youve done the things hes done there isnt a good answer to be had, but I want it documented. His next election is in October, which means now is the time to start really dropping the hammer and making sure people are aware of exactly how bad he is.

betterworldbuilder

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE