I want to ride to the ridge where the
west commences
And gaze at the moon till I lose my senses
And I can't look at hovels and I can't stand fences
Don't fence me in
Overpopulation is growth with fixed fences.
A Zero-Sum game might explain the existing problems in the
US House of Representatives. The number of representatives was fixed at 435 after
the issues of apportionment following the 1910 census. In “1929 the Permanent Apportionment Act
became law. It permanently set the maximum number of representatives at 435. In
addition, the law determined a procedure for automatically reapportioning House
seats after each census.”
https://www.visitthecapitol.gov/sites/default/files/documents/resources-and-activities/CVC_HS_ActivitySheets_CongApportionment.pdf
The problem
is that growth inevitably would occur and has in fact occurred. By setting a
cap on the number of seats, it became a Zero-Sum game, i. e. the fences were
fixed.
This is no different
than overpopulation, which is when growth occurs in a Zero-Sum game. There will
be winners and losers. And ultimately you reach a point where the behavior starts
looking like that described by Calhoun. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavioral_sink
The Wyoming rule
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wyoming_Rule
adds congressional districts in accordance with growth and the Constitutional
requirements BUT has no cap. It would require that the current House consist of
574 members instead of 435 members. There would be virtually no losers after
each census, there would be mostly only be winners in accordance with growth. It is also observed
that the current problem with the Electoral College is because of the cap on
435 members in the House. Fixing this issue may be a way to address those
problems WITHOUT abolishing the Electoral College. Congress created this problem. Congress should correct this problem.
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