14 Feb 2008, 8:27 pm
Orwell wrote:
sinsboldly wrote:
Jaded wrote:
The idiots of this country are the ones who are spawning recklessly. So we end up with a large voting population of stupid. Stupid is as stupid does. Why are we letting the stupid and uninformed elect our leaders?
ah .. . .because we are a democratic republic??
You can still have a republic without universal suffrage. Rome did, and we did until 1919. However, I disagree with military service being the prerequisite to earning voting rights. After all, if the complaint is that stupid people are voting, you have to realize that the military as a whole really is not the intellectual powerhouse of our nation. Perhaps IQ testing or some minimal educational requirement could be used to determine voter eligibility. Another method would be to test prospective voters on history, economics, law, and philosophy/the foundations of our governmental system before they can register to vote.
I do believe that in the book Starship Troopers they were a little um, more selective about who joined. And besides, anyone who wasn't smart enough got put on grunt duty and became a bullet shield. So their vote wasn't guaranteed anyway.
sinsboldly
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Joined: 21 Nov 2006
Gender: Female
Posts: 13,488
Location: Bandon-by-the-Sea, Oregon
17 Feb 2008, 12:37 pm
Orwell wrote:
sinsboldly wrote:
Orwell wrote:
sinsboldly wrote:
Jaded wrote:
The idiots of this country are the ones who are spawning recklessly. So we end up with a large voting population of stupid. Stupid is as stupid does. Why are we letting the stupid and uninformed elect our leaders?
ah .. . .because we are a democratic republic??
You can still have a republic without universal suffrage. Rome did, and we did until 1919. However, I disagree with military service being the prerequisite to earning voting rights. After all, if the complaint is that stupid people are voting, you have to realize that the military as a whole really is not the intellectual powerhouse of our nation. Perhaps IQ testing or some minimal educational requirement could be used to determine voter eligibility. Another method would be to test prospective voters on history, economics, law, and philosophy/the foundations of our governmental system before they can register to vote.
oh! Let's just use the test and training we use for the priviledge of parenting children! that should be adequate!
I don't want any government interference in how parents raise their children. I'm not a totalitarian. I was just expressing that for people to participate in making government decisions, which will obviously effect the entire country, they should have some qualification to do so other than simply being 18 years old. We have enough stupid people voting that informed, thoughtful voters are entirely negligible in our political process and most people just vote for whoever they see on TV. Not exactly an optimal system from my point of view. Though you did manage to construct an amusing strawman.
well, thank you! however it was a point that there IS no such test, for voters or for raising the future generations.
Merle
17 Feb 2008, 1:02 pm
sinsboldly wrote:
Orwell wrote:
sinsboldly wrote:
oh! Let's just use the test and training we use for the priviledge of parenting children! that should be adequate!
I don't want any government interference in how parents raise their children. I'm not a totalitarian. I was just expressing that for people to participate in making government decisions, which will obviously effect the entire country, they should have some qualification to do so other than simply being 18 years old. We have enough stupid people voting that informed, thoughtful voters are entirely negligible in our political process and most people just vote for whoever they see on TV. Not exactly an optimal system from my point of view. Though you did manage to construct an amusing strawman.
well, thank you! however it was a point that there IS no such test, for voters or for raising the future generations.
Merle
I'm not quite sure what your point is here. I know there isn't such a test. I was merely expressing support for the idea of not having our leaders chosen by complete idiots. If you are able to come up with some reasoned arguments for universal suffrage I would be glad to listen to them, but I am not interested in continuing a debate based on sarcasm or ignorant knee-jerk reactions.
sinsboldly
Veteran
Joined: 21 Nov 2006
Gender: Female
Posts: 13,488
Location: Bandon-by-the-Sea, Oregon
17 Feb 2008, 1:21 pm
Orwell wrote:
sinsboldly wrote:
Orwell wrote:
sinsboldly wrote:
oh! Let's just use the test and training we use for the priviledge of parenting children! that should be adequate!
I don't want any government interference in how parents raise their children. I'm not a totalitarian. I was just expressing that for people to participate in making government decisions, which will obviously effect the entire country, they should have some qualification to do so other than simply being 18 years old. We have enough stupid people voting that informed, thoughtful voters are entirely negligible in our political process and most people just vote for whoever they see on TV. Not exactly an optimal system from my point of view. Though you did manage to construct an amusing strawman.
well, thank you! however it was a point that there IS no such test, for voters or for raising the future generations.
Merle
I'm not quite sure what your point is here. I know there isn't such a test. I was merely expressing support for the idea of not having our leaders chosen by complete idiots. If you are able to come up with some reasoned arguments for universal suffrage I would be glad to listen to them, but I am not interested in continuing a debate based on sarcasm or ignorant knee-jerk reactions.
I apologize for not adhering to your rules of conduct to answer your posts. I assure you I was not being sarcastic nor ignorant and my 'knee jerk reactions' are not as hair trigger as your's seem to be.
you well know I was pointing out that there was no test for parenting as there is no test for voters and both would be beneficial for all concerned.
17 Feb 2008, 10:26 pm
sinsboldly
Veteran
Joined: 21 Nov 2006
Gender: Female
Posts: 13,488
Location: Bandon-by-the-Sea, Oregon
17 Feb 2008, 11:14 pm
18 Feb 2008, 10:23 pm
Quote:
I don't really know how to respond to your post, since I can't even tell what you've written.
I got it
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