In a healthy democracy, factions should develop around relevant public policy issues (taxes, size & scope of government, etc.). Block voting degrades that process into a form of base tribalism and, in effect, pushes the selection process further away from the public and into closed-door party halls. (Now, an argument can be made that parties know what's better for the people than the people themselves, and some European and other nations have implemented systems based partially on that concept, but it has never really been the American way.)

In any event, the devastating effects of that process can be seen in cities all across America. What were once some of America's most vibrant, clean, and safe cities have been turned into festering cesspools of human filth because black people voted for the black Democratic candidate regardless of positions, qualifications, or records. From Detroit to Memphis to our nation's own capitol, the plague has gutted the country and made urban living a non-starter for anyone with the choice to live elsewhere. Witness Mayor Marion Barry of Washington, who was convicted of snorting crack cocaine with hookers and sentenced to 6 months in prison, only to re-elected three times after he got out.

These effects haven't yet translated into national politics in a significant way because non-white minorities have traditionally constituted a tiny percentage of the voting electorate, although that will soon change. However, we have seen similar situations throughout our nation's history when regionalism - another form of tribalism - developed into a strong motivator for the voting public - the worst of which would of course be the Civil War. People voting for peripheral issues instead relevant ones has never served this nation or any other well.

Finally, perhaps the largest irony surrounding block voting is that it rarely helps the people who practice it. It hasn't worked for America's black population and it didn't work for the South - be it in the 19th Century or in the '60s with Wallace.

Quote Originally Posted by ACIN
Public funding would do more to save the American democratic system than looking down on people because they are human.
I found this comment particularly interesting/disingenuous. If I announced that I will be voting for President Obama's presumably white (barring an Allan West upset, which would be awesome) opponent because he will be white and Obama is black, you wouldn't look down on me at all? You wouldn't make any personal judgments?