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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal>> <b>On Behalf Of </b>William Flynn Wallace via extropy-chat<br><br><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS"'>>…<span style='color:black'>but somehow, with the impetus of the NCAA, the legislature voted to change it. Do we think that another vote of the people would have gone any differently this time? HA!! ROFL<o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:black'>This was certainly not the best way to gain minority rights, but it worked. Shame on us - NCAA running our state - indeed! bill w<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:black'>bill w<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>BillW, sports run many states, not just Mississippi. Granted the southern take their sports seriously than most, but the important part is that minority rights won. In this case the 1/3 minority who voted for the flag change had twice as much influence in the state as the majority in the state. Well, that’s the beauty of democracy: the voters will be selecting a new state legislature in a few months. The USA is a republic, but the states are democracies.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>In the meantime, I see a reason to be very optimistic. Consider how life was as recently as a century ago. Economics dominated every aspect of life, including (perhaps especially) politics. This guy managed to win an election by promising… chickens. He’s offering chickens: <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><a href="https://iowaculture.gov/history/education/educator-resources/primary-source-sets/great-depression-and-herbert-hoover/chicken">https://iowaculture.gov/history/education/educator-resources/primary-source-sets/great-depression-and-herbert-hoover/chicken</a><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Do you suppose chickens would steer an election today? I think not. Now society is generally prosperous, with the result being that we look to entertainers and sports figures to influence our government. At one time, politics was dominated by necessity. Now it is highly influenced by sports and entertainers. technology and science have enabled our politics to be dominated by playtime and leisure.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Voters were hungry in the olden days. Most days are the olden days. In most of humanity’s history, most people were hungry. We are the lucky ones to be living in the new days.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Life is good.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>spike<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></div></body></html>