Maxi-Min in 2024

When I was in school at Georgia Tech I learned about optimization theory in math courses. We learned that we could phrase a decision in terms of maximums and minimums. What choice of goods and services might lead to the most satisfaction for a family? What choice of productive inputs might lead to the lowest cost of production? Fun stuff. That's when we had to learn calculus -- a type of math that let's you find maximums and minimums. 

One can apply these basic ideas of choice theory to almost anything. Right now I am thinking about our choices of political candidates. Will Joe Biden be our optimal choice? Or will Donald Trump lead us to the best outcomes? 

I just read an article that came up with a surprising answer to this political optimization question. This article explained why the best choice was neither Biden nor Trump. It didn't argue for anyone else but it was pretty clear -- we are worse off with either of these guys. I think I agree. 

It is an interesting world or time that we live in where most of us believe that neither candidate ought to be President of the USA. Not that this opinion is totally unusual. I recall in the past people saying something like -- if anyone wanted to be President, then that ought to automatically disqualify him or her. 

You would think that democracy might solve this kind of problem of poor choices. You would think that if a candidate did not appeal to a majority of voters, then he or she could not win an election. The electorate breaks down into those on either extreme of political issues and those in the middle. Thus, candidates who represent extreme ideas might have a hard time winning enough votes. One has to appeal to at least part of that large group of voters we classify as moderate. 

I am not sure if Biden or Trump are extremists but they do seem to appeal to many extreme voters. Biden represents liberal progressives well. Conservatives would be more attracted to Trump even though he is not a typical conservative. But the picture is not just about ideologies. Both of these men are special. Biden is old and uncharismatic. He does not get away with things a younger John F. Kennedy might have. Trump is almost as old but he fits no ideological camp -- he is not a typical republican or conservative. His personality turns off a lot of the usual Republicans. 

The above is why many of us simply don't want to vote in the next presidential election. Maybe they will give an election and no one will come? Of course, many of us will look at the above and decide which candidate is the most dangerous and then vote for the other guy. But maybe instead, we will look at both guys and just not vote. In that case, the candidate who was the least of the worse might win. That's not anything to be happy about.