We should require all union elections to use the secret ballot

1. Logical arguments:

Secret ballots protect individuals from coercion and peer pressure, encouraging honest voting. They uphold democratic principles by ensuring that each member's vote is confidential and free from manipulation or retaliation.

In a bid to protect workers' rights, labor unions can lead to the creation of many bureaucratic rules and regulations, potentially slowing down processes and leading to inefficiency. 

Labor unions can discourage high performance. Since promotions and raises are often based on seniority rather than merit, there can be little incentive for workers to exceed expectations.

1. Supporting evidence (data, studies):

   • A 2019 study by Alexander Hertel-Fernandez, published in the American Journal of Political Science, suggests secret ballots can enhance political efficacy and promote civic engagement.
   • Study by Hirsch (2004) shows that in heavily unionized industries, productivity can be lower due to more rigid work rules.

2. Supporting books:

   • "The Secret Ballot and Democracy: The Case for Abolition" by Carl Watner
   • "Democracy and the Secret Ballot in America" by Richard Franklin Bensel
   • "The Right to Work: Its Meaning and Value" by Edwin Vieira Jr.

3. Supporting videos (movies, YouTube, TikTok):

   • Numerous TED Talks and educational videos explain the importance of secret ballots in maintaining democratic processes. For instance, "The Secret Ballot: A Voting Method to Ensure Confidentiality" by Michael Munger.
   • "The Problem with Labor Unions" by Learn Liberty on YouTube

4. Supporting organizations and their Websites:

   • The Heritage Foundation (https://www.heritage.org/) has written extensively on the importance of secret ballots in union elections.
   • National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation

5. Supporting podcasts:

   • Podcasts like "Unions 101" by the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation discuss the role of secret ballots in unions.
   • "Freakonomics Radio" has several episodes discussing the impact of labor unions.

6. Unbiased experts:

   • Richard Epstein, a professor of law at New York University, has argued for secret ballots in union elections.

7. Benefits of belief acceptance (Maslow categories):

   • Security: Secret ballots protect union members from potential retaliation or coercion.
   • Esteem: Encourages an atmosphere of respect for individual opinions.
   • Self-actualization: Fosters an environment that values individual's beliefs and encourages their participation in union governance.
   • Economic (Maslow's Safety needs): Unions can lead to increased labor costs, which could potentially impact the economy negatively.
   • Richard B. Freeman, Harvard University
   • David Macpherson, Trinity University

8. Ethics that should be used to justify this belief:

• Democratic principles: Secret ballots are fundamental to democratic societies and allow for a fair and free election.
• Confidentiality: Ensures the privacy of individuals' political preferences.
• Non-maleficence: Protects individuals from potential harm, such as coercion or retaliation.
• Libertarian ethics: Supports the idea that people should have the right to negotiate their own work contracts without union interference.

a) Fundamental beliefs or principles one must reject to also reject this belief:

• Democracy: Rejecting this belief might mean not valuing a cornerstone of democratic societies - free, fair, and secret voting.
• Privacy: One might not see the significance of maintaining confidentiality in voting decisions.
• Protection from coercion: If one doesn't believe in the potential of coercion or peer pressure in voting, they might reject this belief.

b) Alternate expressions of this belief (e.g., metatags, mottos, hashtags):

• #SecretBallots
• "Confidential voting is essential voting"
• "Free, fair, and secret"

c) Criteria to demonstrate the strength or weakness of this belief:

• Strength: Can be demonstrated through examples where secret ballots led to fair voting, free of coercion.
• Weakness: Instances where the confidentiality of secret ballots was compromised or didn't affect the outcome.

d) Shared interests or values with potential dissenters that could promote dialogue and evidence-based understanding:

• All parties likely agree on the importance of fair elections, even if they differ on the means. This shared value can be used to promote dialogue.

e) Key differences or obstacles between agreeing and disagreeing parties that need addressing for mutual understanding:

• Those opposed might argue that secret ballots lead to disengagement or less accountability. This is a concern that needs addressing and discussion.

f) Strategies for encouraging dialogue, respect, and using tools to gauge the evidence in this debate:

• Hosting open forums where both sides can present their perspectives.
• Comparing case studies and research on union elections that did and did not use secret ballots.
• Emphasizing respectful dialogue and the importance of understanding differing views.

g) Educational resources:

• "The Right to Vote: The Contested History of Democracy in the United States" by Alexander Keyssar
• "Why Secret Balloting Matters" by National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation
• "Union Democracy: The Internal Politics of the International Typographical Union" by Seymour Martin Lipset
• "Unions and Democracy" article in The American Prospect.

Visit the following links for more resources and participation:
Group Intel and Idea Stock Exchange.

If the church is wrong, people waste a lot of time on the Mormon church

Reasons to agree

1. Mormons spend 3 hours on Sunday in a church. They could be having fun instead. They could be water skiing, hanging out with people that they choose, doing things with family.


2. Mormon missionaries waste two of their best years on a mission.


3. At the Mormon church you hear the same things over and over again. People can't help it. They raise their hands, and you hear the fist word out of their mouth, and you know exactly what they are going to say...


4. It is true that time spent is service is not wasted, but not much time in the Mormon church could be considered true service from a secular perspective... Building up the kingdom of god, presupposes it truly is the kingdom of God... Sure visiting the lonely is good, but most meetings are all spent trying to get people baptized, going to their meetings, and things that have not eternal consequence unless the Chruch is 100% true, or mostly true. 

Reasons to agree

1. Waste is loaded word. Sure, if the church is wrong, people do waste a lot of time.

A lot of effort goes into eating and getting your kids to eat

Background: One of the many terrible terrible parts about children is feeding them. Every day! Often more than once!

Images that agree:

2005, James (Birthday). Wall paper in process of being removed

Toll Station. McCall Idaho. 2012.


2004 @ our first home

Jan 2008. I guess he likes it

Ali. Jan 2009 

Videos that agree:

Philip Speaks

The Art Institute of Chicago is Better than the Denver Museum of Art

Best reasons to agree: +1

1. The Art Institute of Chicago is bigger, and bigger museums are better.
1. the second largest art museum in the United States, after the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
2. The Art Institute of Chicago has over 260,000 works of art.
3. You run out of things to see when going to the Denver art museum, because it doesn't change very often.

Best reasons to disagree: -1

1. Its less expensive to stay and park in Denver, in 2012 parking was $28 in Chicago and $4 in Denver. 

Images that agree:

Coffin and Mummy of Paankhenamun, Third Intermediate Period, Dynasty 22 (c. 945–715 B.C.) Cartonnage, gold leaf, pigment; human remains
Ancient Egyptian beliefs in the afterlife gave rise to the complex art and science of mummification. This vividly painted Mummy Case was the innermost of a series of shells that housed the body of a deceased person. The hieroglyphic inscriptions and painted scenes identify this mummy as Paankhenamun, a doorkeeper in the temple of the god Amun. The central scene shows the hawk-headed god Horus presenting Paankhenamun to Osiris, ruler of the afterlife.
http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/64339

Knob-Handled Dish, Greek, from Apulia, Italy, The Baltimore Painter ?
330/320 B.C., Earthenware, red-figure technique
Scene: Persephone in a chariot led by Hemes followed by Artemis; above, Hera, Aphrodite, and Eros
For the ancient Greeks, the myth of Persephone accounted for the changing of the seasons. When Persephone was abducted by Hades, king of the underworld, her mother Demeter, the goddess of fertility, cursed the world with barren winter. This scene shows Persephone's triumphant return, bringing the season of spring.
http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/102081

Sarcophagus Panel Showing the Abduction of Persephone
Roman, C. A.D. 190-200, Marble

Vincent  Van Gogh Dutch, 1853-1890, Self-Portrait,
1887, Oil on artist's board, mounted on cradled panel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-portraits_by_Vincent_van_Gogh

Chicago Pointillism A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Sunday_Afternoon_on_the_Island_of_La_Grande_Jatte

Pierre-Auguste Renoir
On the Terrace
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre-Auguste_Renoir

Paris Street; Rainy Day is a large 1877 oil painting by the French artist Gustave Caillebotte. The piece depicts the Place de Dublin, an intersection near the Gare Saint-Lazare, a railroad station in north Paris. One of Caillebotte's best known works, it debuted at the Third Impressionist Exhibition of 1877. Art Institute curator Gloria Groom described the piece as "the great picture of urban life in the late 19th century." Caillebotte's interest in photography is evident in the painting. The figures in the foreground appear slightly "out of focus", those in the mid-distance (the carriage and the pedestrians in the middle of the intersection) have sharp edges, and then the background becomes progressively indistinct.

Millennium Park Skating Rink.

Millennium Park Skating Rink.
Its hard to hold the camera still and take a picture of yourself

Pedway--downtown pedestrian walkway system
http://www.cityofchicago.org/content/dam/city/depts/cdot/Pedwaymap_2008.pdf

James and Alison infront of the Art Institute. Aug 2010. 

We have also taken James a couple of times, but I can't find those photos right now.

Webpages that agree: 1

1. https://twitter.com/artinstitutechi:

Images that disagree:

You should take young kids to art museums. 

Best reasons to agree: +1

1. You should get out and walk around with kids, even if it is just at Walmart, and their are cooler things to look at at an Art Museum than Walmart.
2. The kids aren't as awful when they aren't together.
3. Even if they don't remember it, if you take pictures of them with great art, it will help them contextualize themselves with regard to history, and the world around them.