I’ve spent quite a lot of time thinking and writing about democracy, its problems, and possible solutions. It is not perfect, but as Winston Churchill once said, it “is the worst form of government – except for all the others that have been tried.” In the first English parliamentary elections in 1295, the "forty-shilling freeholder" qualification meant that you had to own land worth at least forty shillings a year in order to vote. You also had to be a man. Since then, the history of democracy has largely been one of expanding the franchise to more and more people. The road to “universal” suffrage was long and required several key pieces of legislation:
The problem is how to make people care about being responsible, taking a long-term view, and doing the right thing. Everyone used to care. Now people feel so disconnected from the government that they feel no sense of responsibility. I don’t think that taking voting rights away is the answer (and I see no evidence that your average 30 year old is any less self-interested and apathetic than 18 year olds are). Somehow we have to get people back in the frame of mind that they ARE the government.
Yes, I had considered that as well. Of course one could argue that that is just an extension of taking away the vote of people who take more out of the system than they put in.
Absolutely, it's just one of the easier ways to find those people. Going after non-contributing political clients would be not much more difficult based on tax payments.
“The opinion of 10,000 men is of no value if none of them knows anything about the subject." – Marcus Aurelius
The problem is how to make people care about being responsible, taking a long-term view, and doing the right thing. Everyone used to care. Now people feel so disconnected from the government that they feel no sense of responsibility. I don’t think that taking voting rights away is the answer (and I see no evidence that your average 30 year old is any less self-interested and apathetic than 18 year olds are). Somehow we have to get people back in the frame of mind that they ARE the government.
With 30% of US workforce in government, an obvious fix is no vote while working for the government.
Yes, I had considered that as well. Of course one could argue that that is just an extension of taking away the vote of people who take more out of the system than they put in.
Absolutely, it's just one of the easier ways to find those people. Going after non-contributing political clients would be not much more difficult based on tax payments.
Food for thought. Thank you.
You're welcome. I was trying to be a little controversial to make people think.
Are you kidding me? What democracy, if there ever been any?
Do they not know or are they just more concerned with maintaining their own power?