30 Sep 2011

Notes From the Six-Year-Old on Social Choice

Humor 4 Comments

On two possible stories (one involving porcupines and one involving bears) that I might tell in the car:

Clark: Let’s decide which story we want to hear. If we pick the same story then that’s the one we’ll tell. If we pick different stories, then we’ll tell the one that I picked.

Bob: Whoa, if we pick the same story then that’s the one, but if we pick different stories, we end up doing the one you said?

Clark: No, if we pick different stories, then we’ll just do the best one.

Then a little later he mentioned that he had voted for the kids on the 3rd-grade council.

Bob: So how do you pick the kids you voted for?

Clark: Well we only had to pick 3 kids.

Bob: Right, but how did you decide how to pick them?

Clark: Well we had to put an X next to their picture.

Bob: Right, but how did you figure out which kid you put an X next to? Like, were some of them your friends so you put an X next to their pictures?

Clark: No, I didn’t know them. They said some nice words. Guess what?! There was one kid who said, “If you vote for me, I’ll make your dreams come true.” Isn’t that funny? So I put an X next to his picture.

4 Responses to “Notes From the Six-Year-Old on Social Choice”

  1. James E. Miller says:

    “There was one kid who said, “If you vote for me, I’ll make your dreams come true.” Isn’t that funny? So I put an X next to his picture.”

    Priceless. I always wondered why we don’t let kids vote, it’s not like they behave any differently than the average voter.

    • Aspiring Pol says:

      Excellent, another interest group to cater to!
      -ahem-
      If elected, I will introduce legislation to mandate an extension of snack and nap time, as well as postpone bedtime to more humane conditions.

  2. Zachariah Crossen says:

    So Clark is on board with the Napoleon Dynamite theory of voting.

  3. david nh says:

    Is Clark a progressive?