The Patrigia Times 1

The Patrigia Times 1

On this day, the great and fictional country of Patrigia was born in the Pacific and later moved to North America. During its founding, the UN gave the following description of our country.

UN Category: Inoffensive Centrist Democracy
Civil Rights: Excellent
Economy: Strong
Political Freedoms: Excellent

The Republic of Patrigia is a tiny, socially progressive nation, notable for its burgeoning cat population. Its hard-nosed, hard-working, intelligent population of 5 million have some civil rights, but not too many, enjoy the freedom to spend their money however they like, to a point, and take part in free and open elections, although not too often.

The large government is mainly concerned with Religion & Spirituality, although Healthcare and Social Welfare are secondary priorities. The average income tax rate is 19%. A robust private sector is led by the Pizza Delivery, Gambling, and Retail industries.

Crime is a problem. Patrigia's national animal is the cat and its currency is the Lipi.

Also, our great and noble leader, Patricio, will now have to answer an issue every weekday. Thanks to a source only known as 'Deep Nostril', the following memo was leaked.

Today's Issue: Should Democracy be Compulsory?

In response to a slow news week, certain highbrow newspapers have stirred up the debate over voluntary vs compulsory voting.

The Debate

"Compulsory voting makes about as much as sense as having the death penalty for attempted suicide," says civil rights activist Sue-Ann Barry. "You can't force people to be free! You can only give them the choice. Besides, if all those derelicts who can't be bothered to get off their ass once every few years voted, who would they elect? I shudder to think."

"It's not contradictory at all," argues political commentator Clint King. "The fact is, if not everyone votes, the outcome isn't truly representative. Some groups--like elderly gun nuts--vote more often than others. That's why always we always end up with such terrible politicians."

"This raises an interesting issue," says Freddy Johnson, your brother. "And that is: why do we need elections, anyway? Seems to me it would be much simpler if you just decided what was right, and did it. Wouldn't that save everyone a lot of time?"

The Government Position

The government has indicated its intention to follow the recommendations of Option 1.