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Political Accountability from a Perspective of an Investor
By Chris at www.CapitalistExploits.at
There is a great deal of chatter about the recently concluded British elections in which a posh sounding man with eyes suspiciously close together just trumped another man who obviously economically illiterate is missing a chin. During this particular circus show it's not a leader people were picking but rather choosing which gang led by these two clowns will run the place.
It's deeply troubling to think that the fate of Englishmen is being decided by a band of thieves whose IQ is decidedly smaller than their waistbands. And before I get hate-mail from either side let me say categorically that I consider that statement true irrespective of which of the current buffoons took the reigning spot.

It got me to thinking about running a more equitable, transparent and consequence driven election process. In order to do so I'm going to take some lessons learned in venture capital and see what a new and wonderful world we could all create if we could apply them to politics.
Think about this: what if voting for candidates and political parties was more like voting for a company to prosper?
If your candidate and party got in then your life should be better for it, much in the same way when we vote for a company by investing into it. If said company subsequently does well then our lives are enriched by our investment into that company.
It can all be very simple, unlike this obscure nonsense we have right now.
In venture capital, as investors we're often taking positions in very early stage companies where risks to our capital are high. We know that statistically some of these companies won't make it out alive - such is the nature of the business.
Since things don't always work out as we would wish we must act to protect ourselves and our capital. One way of doing this is via anti dilution clauses. One in particular that is commonly used by VCs is called a liquidation preference.
I think this description is a good one:
A term used in venture capital contracts to specify which investors get paid first and how much they get paid in the event of a liquidation event such as the sale of the company.
Liquidation preference helps protect venture capitalists from losing money by making sure they get their initial investments back before other parties. If the company is sold at a profit, liquidation preference can also help them be first in line to claim part of the profits. Venture capitalists are usually repaid before holders of common stock and before the company's original owners and employees.
Entrepreneurs find it easier to raise money if they are prepared to provide assurances that will go a long way to covering investors potential losses. Eliminating downside for investors while allowing them participation in the upside is a smart thing to do.
Essentially, investors have the right to get paid first, ahead of founders, and management, and even ahead of preference shareholders. For example, if a company sells for a price lower than the price the investor paid, then the proceeds of the sale on a 1x liquidation preference will go towards those investors until they're made whole.
Now, let's imagine what this would look like in the political circus of elections.
Voters (shareholders/investors) would vote (invest) for their party (company) and if that party wins then it's game on.
The end of any political term in office is deemed to be the liquidation event. In other words at this point the score card is read. All the promises that have been made need to be kept. If at the end of the term they have not kept up to their promises then voters (shareholders) get to keep all of their taxes paid (investments made) and are made whole on their "investments".
I'll go one step further and say that if there exists a shortfall (and looking at the last few 100 years I think it's safe to say there would be some enormous shortfalls ) that such shortfall is made up by the individuals in the party, all jointly and severally liable. Sounds fair to me!
I'll be happy to draft all the agreements for this new system and I won't charge a dime for it. Consider it humanitarian work.
- Chris
"There's another way we're getting behind business - by sorting out the banks. Taxpayers bailed you out. Now it's time for you to repay the favor and start lending to Britain's small businesses." - David Cameron
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How about we just try a popular vote, every citizen gets 1 vote, all done thru electronic devices, like androids, cell phones, or the old pc, via the internet.
Make the vote interesting, in that YOUR name is published next to YOUR vote, and if your worried what your neighbor or your boss thinks of you as they read the results...that's just tough titty. The whole notion of 'secrecy in voting' is the foundation of the rampant fraud we enjoy this very day. And just so I'm clear, I'm not talking about the fiasco called DieBold, that was brought to you by corrupted leadership, and remain corrupted to this very day. By-the-way, if your dead, and someone knows your dead, and you voted anyway~~~hello, those names of the deceased will be recognized by your neighbors, your old boss, or whatever, that is an important reason to use the EZ BUTTON (audit).
Now for the fun part, to prevent hacking & fraud, next to your name & next to your vote, is an EZ BUTTON, of which it is your responsibility to verify YOUR vote is what YOU actually voted, after-the-fact/via the internet. And if YOUR vote has been hacked, then you hit the EZ BUTTON, and request an 'instant audit'. In this way each vote that requires auditiing shall be tracked down, with full determination to catch the culprit(s). The EZ BUTTON is for fraud only, it is not for those of you that change your mind, and just want to vote differently for some silly reason. There is no reason to change your vote, unless it is fraudulent in nature.
And next to YOUR name, YOUR vote, and the EZ BUTTON, there is a 'page talley' just like they did in the olden times, each page of voters has a talley, (subject to the EZ BUTTON audits). That talley number, should correspond exactly to all the votes from that page, once the page has passed all audits, the talley number must remain as boni fide votes, that you, your neighbor, and your boss can easily verify at any time, or day, or place via your electonic device.
Ballot stuffing, and rigged elections should become eliminated, but it would require a leader that isn't so much: 'business-like', as it would require a leader that: enjoys truth and wants to use it. And since it is convenient & verifiable, there is none of this 'I live out of town and I've got to vote early bullshit.'
Oh yeah and by the way~~~~~every citizen, including convicts, and children over the age of 15 should be able to vote. But if your an illegal alien, you don't get to vote, if your not registered at least 30 days in advance, you don't get to vote. If your over age 70, you don't get to vote! (that whole thing that the old are full of wisdom, is probably true, just not at this time!) hahahaha I'm sure there should be a few other reasonable qualifications that could be made.
wwxx