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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Not terribly excited about any of the current choices for president?</p><p>A speaker Saturday at the annual meeting of the Eastern Pennsylvania Philosophy Association has a solution for you then &#8212; let government leaders be selected by a lottery system instead of an election.</p><p>Alexander Guerrero, an assistant professor of philosophy and law at the University of Pennsylvania and the event&#8217;s keynote speaker, told those gathered at King&#8217;s College&#8217;s Sheehy-Farmer Campus Center about his plan.</p><p>Guerrero&#8217;s plan is similar to what is now used for jury duty. He it aims to address the four &#8220;core&#8221; issues that need to be addressed to re-evaluate any governmental body: the principal/agent system, accountability, complexity and opacity.</p><p>&#8220;Today&#8217;s climate is really a story about &#8216;capture&#8217; and ignorance,&#8221; said Guerrero.</p><p>Capture, in his definition, refers to political agencies being purchased, or captured, by the corporations they aim to regulate.</p><p>&#8220;Both Trump and Sanders show that the act of capture is being exposed, and the people are upset about it,&#8221; he said. &#8220;The people clearly want to see change.&#8221;</p><p>But changing to a lottery system to pick a president? Far-fetched?</p><p>Sure, but the annual meeting is all about the sharing of ideas.</p><p>&#8220;We usually meet once yearly, gathering at one of the many educational institutions in the area,&#8221; said David Kyle Johnson, an associate professor at King&#8217;s College, the organizer for this year&#8217;s event.</p><p>The event has been attracting philosophers, educators and those interested in the discussion of philosophical topics for nearly 30 years.</p><p>Guerrero&#8217;s topic, focusing on the &#8220;what-if&#8217;s&#8221; surrounding the theory of our government being chosen via a &#8220;lottocratic&#8221; system, was timely, considering the current political climate.</p><p>&#8220;He came highly recommended to me,&#8221; Johnson said. &#8220;It was such an interesting topic and especially pertinent to our current events. The main focus of our conference is the exchange of ideas, accompanied by rigorous argument and discussion, so this topic was well suited.&#8221;</p><p>With more than 40 people in attendance, the reaction to Guerrero&#8217;s &#8220;lottocratic&#8221; theory and presentation was overwhelmingly positive.</p><p>&#8220;He was great,&#8221; said George Shea, a philosophy professor at Misericordia University. &#8220;He was crystal clear about the issue, perfectly capturing the issue of ignorance.&#8221;</p><p>Guerrero himself was very pleased with the presentation as well.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m currently working on a book based upon this theory, so I like to open this up to get feedback from the general public,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It&#8217;s been incredibly interesting.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">People listen to University of Pennsylvania Professor Alexander Guerrero give a lecture on the political process in the Sheehy-Farmer Campus Center at King&#8217;s College in Wilkes-Barre on Saturday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_TTL041016Election2.jpg</photo0><caption0>People listen to University of Pennsylvania Professor Alexander Guerrero give a lecture on the political process in the Sheehy-Farmer Campus Center at King&#8217;s College in Wilkes-Barre on Saturday. </caption0><photoCredit0>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_TTL041016Election1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Alexander Guerrero, assistant professor of philosophy and law at the University of Pennsylvania, gives a presentation on the political process in the Sheehy-Farmer Campus Center on King&#8217;s College campus in Wilkes-Barre on Saturday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_TTL041016Election1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Alexander Guerrero, assistant professor of philosophy and law at the University of Pennsylvania, gives a presentation on the political process in the Sheehy-Farmer Campus Center on King&#8217;s College campus in Wilkes-Barre on Saturday. </caption1><photoCredit1>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Philosophy associations keynote address pitches &#8216;lottocratic&#8217; system</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Rachel Holly</p><p>For Times Leader</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach the Times Leader newsroom at 570-829-7242 or on Twitter @TLnews.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Speaker: Pick political leaders by lottery