How To Steal An Election – A Guide To Gerrymandering

Winning elections is hard work and some people would rather skip the inconvenient issue of getting a majority of votes and would instead rig the system in their favour. One way of doing this is known as gerrymandering and was widespread in Northern Ireland for decades (and one was one of the causes of the Troubles) and is common in America to this day (where it is surprisingly accepted as a political fact of life). Gerrymandering essentially is rigging the system so that you win the most seats (and therefore power) even if your opponent wins more votes. A good example is Derry (or Londonderry depending on your political views) during the Stormont era in Northern Ireland (1922-72). Derry is … Continue reading “How To Steal An Election – A Guide To Gerrymandering”

June 2, 2015Politics2012, America, Democrat, Election 2012, Gerrymander, Northern Ireland, Obama, Politics, Republican, Result, Stormont Leave a comment

Religion As A Cause Of War In Ireland

In my last post I argued that religion was a major cause of war. Now I want to discuss this in an Irish context. In fact the history of Ireland is basically the history of Protestants and Catholics warring among each other. There are numerous incidents where Catholics or Protestants were killed solely because of their religion. There is a serious problem in separating actions based on religion from those based on nationality. In fact Daniel O’Connell went as far as to claim that being Catholic and being Irish was the one thing. This presents a serious problem in decoding conflict and classifying them as nationalist or religious wars. Some even argue that class was the driving force, with the … Continue reading “Religion As A Cause Of War In Ireland”

May 23, 2012Religion1916. 1798, Atheism, Catholic, Christianity, God, History, IRA, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Political Theory, Protestant, Religion, Troubles, UDA, UVF Leave a comment