# Rigged Games By:: [[Ross Jackson]] 2022-10-03 For those engaged in changing the status quo, it can seem that one is playing a rigged game. It seems this way because it is. Systems of authority and control are designed to be self-sustaining. Every path toward change generates a system response designed to resist it. This is observable in American politics. In theory, America is based on democratic principles tied to individual participation in elections. And whereas America is a republic, not a democracy, the [[rhetoric]] is that individuals vote for their representatives, and if a representative doesn’t, in fact, represent the views of those in a respective district those people can always vote that representative out and elect a new person who will better represent their views. At least that is how it is alleged to work in theory. But it hasn’t and doesn’t work that way in practice. Gerrymandering has been one phenomenon that precludes representative [[democracy]] in America from being achieved. A lesser-known contributor to the problem is the Permanent Apportionment Act of 1929 which set the number of Representatives in Congress to 435. The House of Representatives was supposed to grow with the nation and represent the will of the people. As the population has grown, fixing the number to 435 has made the House increasingly less reflective of the population. Since the Senate was already created to give less populated areas an equal voice in governance, the lack of proportional growth in the House has shifted increasingly to amplifying the voice of rural areas. A lack of responsive representation can lead to frustration on the part of those advocating for change. Faced with such unresponsiveness and a lack of representation of the will of the people in government, people might respond in a variety of ways. Protesting is a common example. The system is designed to accommodate protests. These are relatively easy to ignore or marginalize, and seldom generate much institutional or popular response. When protests fail to achieve one’s political aims, some eventually move towards a position of violence. The system quickly contains the threat of violence, and those engaged in it are punished swiftly. In the process, the movement is largely discredited, and the status quo is strengthened. People vote and the elections generate results that favor special interests rather than the voice of the people. When frustration leads to protest, the movement is ignored. When frustration leads to violence, the movement is punished, and the status quo benefits. In the end, one might give up in despair, which also maintains the status quo. Voting, protest, violence, and resignation each in turn seem to only strengthen the system. When one can play a game, using a variety of strategies, with the same result achieved, the game is said to be rigged. Workers face a similar phenomenon in organizations; however, within organizations, there is less pretense of representation or responsiveness. #### Related Items [[Games]] [[Politics]] [[Society]] [[Business]] [[Authority]] [[Government]] [[American]]