tern wrote:
Then you never sign human rights petitions for minorities in other countries, such as against anti-gay laws in Uganda and Morocco? You think in the apartheid era the black South Africans were wrong to welcome solidarity and sanctions from abroad?
The state I live in isn't the biggest in Australia. It has about 7% of the country's population, which puts it in about the middle by size. In an straight out majority rules situation, we'd be swamped by the eastern states (Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria).
Yet, my state was the first state in the country to give women the vote and the first to allow them to stand for political office. We were also the first state to decriminalize homosexuality. Neither of these things would have been possible if the local votes had been overwhelmed by voters in the eastern states. So, sometimes these weird arrangements that enable areas without a huge number of people to have a say without being drowned out by more populous regions produce results you like, sometimes they don't.
So, no, I don't sign petitions directed at foreign governments because I don't see any reason why they would listen to me. I do participate in boycotts because it's something I can do directly and, in combination with a bunch of other people, I think is more likely to have an effect.
So, if you want to boycott the United States because you don't like the Electoral College, go for it. Personally, I think a system that gives less populous regions a say rather than just ignoring them in favor of New York and Los Angeles is not a bad thing.
But then, as I say, I come from a medium-sized state, and I like to think that I and my fellow citizens have some say (however small) in how national affairs are run.