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A Model Railway Journey

cabinetmagazine.org

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In 2013, the Wunderland donated one square meter to each of the six major political parties in Germany, asking them to envision what the nation would look like if their party were in power. Top politicians and their advisors visited the Wunderland to participate in this special “Utopia” exhibition. They fretted for weeks over the small details, which each took on the symbolic importance of a plank in a political platform. They had to decide what to include, what to emphasize, and which scenarios would convey their policies most precisely; essentially, what kind of world they wanted to imagine into existence.

I really like that idea. It's almost like an elevator pitch for each party's platform.

The pitch is not the problem since it rarely has anything to do with reality.

"six major political parties"

Things are a bit different over there...

America's first-past the post system is pretty terrible and removes any real choice. Keep in mind the constitutional framers wanted to keep people who weren't educated from voting and even then, the vote was more of a suggestion (i.e. the electoral college).

America's voting system is undemocratic and next to useless. Australia's order of preference with instant runoff, New Zealand's MMP or any basic parliamentary system is better in that they promote choice, require coalitions and do a better job at representing various parts of the population. Returning to America was deeply upsetting for me, not because of the D/R debate during election season, but more because people actually think it makes a difference which one gets elected.

> America's voting system is undemocratic and next to useless.

If you're discarding the definition of 'democratic' where citizens vote on government, no country in the world is democratic. Representational democracies rule the world and—yes—are not democratic in the least.

I don't know why the world insists on using the word without meaning.

Germany isn't extreme. Because a party needs 5% of the votes to get any seats, only five of those six made it into parliament (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_federal_election,_2013)

Compare that with countries without such a rule such as Belgium (13 parties elected in parliament (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgian_federal_election,_20...) and the Netherlands (11 elected (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_general_election,_2012), but, because individuals split off from their parties, currently 16 factions in parliament).

These countries _always_ get a coalition government. It's no surprise getting agreement on policy sometimes takes time, in extreme cases over a year (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010–11_Belgian_government_f...)

> It's no surprise getting agreement on policy sometimes takes time, in extreme cases over a year

The US, with it's mere two parties, has been stonewalling for the past six years. Not a single policy, no, but a very hostile setup where little of substance can get done. It's a strange setup when your head of government and your control of legislature can come from opposing parties.

Here are some of the results: http://www.amusingplanet.com/2013/09/german-political-partie...

Streetview URL: https://www.google.com/maps/about/behind-the-scenes/streetvi...

wow, thanks for posting that link. The place looks amazing and it's a great way to explore.

It is. What isn't visible in those pictures is the fact that they have a day-night-cycle that takes 15(?) minutes. Not only do you get to see the nice scenery during bright light but also during the simulated night during which > 350k [1] lights turn on. It's awesome.

[1] http://www.miniatur-wunderland.com/exhibit/wunderland/wunder...

That's pretty amazing. I was disappointed by the lack of high res pictures in the article.

I you ever visit Hamburg and have a spare day make sure you visit the Wunderland! I can't recommend it enough. They even have a model of their own building as a miniature. With tiny moving trains in it :-)

Be sure to get a reservation. That way you don't have wait in a queue to get in: http://www.miniatur-wunderland.de/besuch/tickets/

For behind-the-scenes technical details, I recommend watching their (video) development diary: http://tagebuch.miniatur-wunderland.de/

And / Or consider booking a guided behind-the-scnes tour. http://www.miniatur-wunderland.com/visit/guidance/60-min/

Try to get in early or / late on a week day - especially if you like to let your eyes / imaganitaion wander around uninterupted. Otherwise it gets somewhat crowded despite the fact that their limiting / scheduling aproach.

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