Close election as “worst case scenario”??

I just heard, on the radio, the recent Mexican election, which was almost tied, described as a “worst case scenario.” It’s a funny thing, though: a very close election is a bad thing in that it can lead to controversy, lack of legitimacy of the government, and sensitivity of results to cheating. On the other hand, a key premise of democracy is that your vote can matter, which means there has to a be a chance that the election is really close. So, the ideal seems to be an election that, before the election, is highly likely to be close, but after the election, never ends up actually being close. This is hard to arrange, though!

It’s a paradox, along the lines of: you should live each day as if it were your last, but you don’t want it to actually be your last…

2 thoughts on “Close election as “worst case scenario”??

  1. I thought of an analogy: you ask a girl to marry you. She says she can't give you an answer right away, but she will think it over.

    When you don't hear from her for a couple of days, you give her a call.

    "So, have you decided?" you ask.

    "Well," she says. "It's real close, but I still haven't decided. Can I get back to you in a week or so?"

    Somehow it doesn't sound like the recipe for a happy marriage.

  2. "It's a paradox, along the lines of: you should live each day as if it were your last, but you don't want it to actually be your last… "

    Well, this is not really a paradox because you should probably not live as if there were no tomorrow… The good advice is to appreciate your day as if it were your last (which is difficult to do because everyday proves you otherwise)

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