“Would you explain this? I don’t know what you mean by Universal Voting. The national trend has been toward expanding the franchise — blacks, women, 18-year-olds — but does that have something to do with Las Vegas?”
Sure, before Universal Voting the mob ran everything there, and it was a safe place, for everyone (except rival mob families, of course). Similar to Zimbabwe...when voting was exclusionary, the country was safe and wealthy, for everyone, not no more.
“Sure, before Universal Voting the mob ran everything there, and it was a safe place, for everyone (except rival mob families, of course). Similar to Zimbabwe...when voting was exclusionary, the country was safe and wealthy, for everyone, not no more.”
I still don’t understand. Women got the vote in 1920, before gambling was legalized in Nevada. Yes, there was a period of powerful mob influence in Vegas; and yes, over the years the mob was largely driven out — but I don’t see what either of these developments had to do with voting rules.
As for Zimbabwe, the country (back when it was Rhodesia) was not safe and wealthy for everyone. There was a white minority government. The whites, never more than 5% of the population, were not interested in wealth for everyone or in protecting a free market. They directed the economy to protect their position at the expense of the blacks. Now that everyone can vote, there’s more equality, although unfortunately it’s equality at a pretty low level. Still, I don’t think the blacks are any worse off than they were under the white minority regime.