While I was out late this morning someone left a phone message on our answering machine. The message proved yet again that the one man, one vote rule is totally wrong for the people, but good for politicians.
My Skool’s Principle Is Stoopid
The caller was male (a broad assumption that I made based upon the male-like sound of the voice message left on the answering machine) and dialed from Jennifer Martin’s phone at 808-792-0017 (which appears to be a local Skype number).
Basically, the message was simple. He saw an advertisement on one of my web sites (I manage a few dozen sites), tried a product he assumed was free, and was disappointed when he found out it wasn’t free.
He used phrases such as these to emphasize his feelings:
your web site is a scam… opinions get out there that are totally unbiased that are not… it’s a bunch of crap… you’re on the take
Does that sound like a dissatisfied reader? Yes.
Unfortunately the reader made some broad assumptions about web sites, advertising, opinions, and being on the take. If I’m on the take, then it’s not much of a take.
As best I can tell, among the many millions of ads that run each month on web sites that I manage, Jennifer Martin’s friend (or, the guy who used her phone) found one for a product called TidySongs, a utility which helps users correct misspelled details on songs, add album artwork, remove duplicate songs, and organize music (both Windows PCs and Macs).
I’m very dissatisfied with advertising for Tidy Songs, they said it was free but never made any mention about limited time.
The truth eventually rises the to top, doesn’t it?
Who Is To Blame For The World’s Morons?
A few seconds of research took me to the TidySongs web site, where, plain as day, it says Free Download, right beside a large Download Now button. Remarkably, the button is just above the Buy link.
From what I can tell, the user of Jennifer Martin’s phone thought that TidySongs was a free app, because, after all, it said Free Download on the ad, and Free Download on the TidySong’s web site.
TidySongs actually costs $39. But, just as they said in plain English, they don’t charge you to download TidySongs and use it on your Mac or PC. Naturally, when he found out TidySongs was really $39 and not free he looked around for someone to blame (a mirror probably wasn’t handy at the time), and through an admittedly arduous process, he eventually found my phone number and vented his anger accordingly. Anonymously. On an answering machine.
Despite the obvious, and the mounting evidence to the contrary, the man who used Jennifer Martin’s phone is not a moron. After all, he found my phone number which required reading skills, point and click skills, some attention to detail, a limited measure of deductive reasoning, and some persistence.
Based upon the chronology of events so far, maybe he had help, since those skills, experience, and understanding were lacking earlier, leading him to assume that TidySongs was free, when it would be obvious to most high school graduates using the internet that it was not free.
An intelligent person would not seek out Jerry Seinfeld to complain about a misleading television commercial which ran on a Seinfeld rerun.
One Man, One Vote Is Bad And Good
The TidySongs incident reinforces my belief that the one man, one vote principle is not good for voters but great for politicians.
What is it?
“One Man, One Vote” or “One Person, One Vote” is a slogan that has been used in many parts of the world where campaigns have arisen for universal suffrage. It became particularly prevalent in the less developed countries, during the period of decolonisation and the struggles for national sovereignty from the late nineteen-forties onward.
It seems only fair that one voter should have only one vote, doesn’t it?
It’s wrong.
Just look around at the current condition of local, state, and federal governments. How’s that one man, one vote thing working out so far? Simply put, there are too many morons who have the right to vote. And being morons, who, incidentally, seem to make up the majority of voters, they’re easily manipulated by devious politicians who can sway the great unwashed masses of voters who continually vote them into office.
It’s a principle that is bad for voters, regardless of intellect, and good for politicians (also regardless of intellect). There are just too many morons in the world, and now that they have the right to vote, see what they’ve caused?