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I myself am in my 20s and think we are not cut out to make decisions that risk the fate of the country. I know how people my age think and it's scary. Most of my age group is full of wanna be hippies... Free everything, and easy living.
I know there is an exception to this generalization, but for the most part it seems most are not informed enough about long term consequences of their votes.
YOu think older people aren't idiots?
If you aren't allowed to vote, you shouldn't have to pay taxes then.
I myself am in my 20s and think we are not cut out to make decisions that risk the fate of the country. I know how people my age think and it's scary. Most of my age group is full of wanna be hippies... Free everything, and easy living.
I know there is an exception to this generalization, but for the most part it seems most are not informed enough about long term consequences of their votes.
Let's see. You claim you're in your 20's yet you're talking about "wanna be hippies"? I am beyond skeptical.
Some folks will win the lottery, have a relative give them the money, or some other thing, but most will have to work some overtime, save for a few months, or a year, or two, or do something else that demonstrates they can plan ahead and have good decision making. This would have the benefit of weeding out a lot of folks who make bad decisions from the voting process as well as encouraging a lot of Americans to keep a bare minimum of savings.
I think this makes a lot more sense than a property requirement as many American "home owners" have less than 50% equity in their homes, and it never seemed like a solid system in the old days either to me as a merchant who owned a ship couldn't vote if he didn't own land even though his ship may have been worth more than the holdings of many landowners.
I don't think anyone would save more just so they can vote every couple of years.
Anyway, I don't think that requirement makes sense. There are so many reasons why people have no savings. Some have lost their jobs, others had no or inappropriate health insurance and spent all their money on an operation...
Those limitations always are also a bit arbitrary. Why $5000 or $10000?
When you argue that having savings proves planning, good decision-making etc., not being allowed to vote may be considered a kind of punishment for things that are not against the law. I wonder what courts have to say about that If you argue that they lack the skills to plan ahead and make right decisions, they might use that as an excuse when committing crimes.
In the West the only restriction these days is age, and that only because of the fact that children and kids are by law not adults. The age at which one is old enough to take full responsibility of one's life is where sciences such as psychology have agreed on due to experience. In Germany some states have even lowered the age to 16 for local elections.
Are mentally handicapped people allowed to vote? This is a serious question
Maybe lower the age of actual education. Start teaching government in grade school, with further classes every year. Kids catch on real fast. Raise the requirements to move from one grade to another or even graduate from high school. Better yet, increase the requirements for a college degree to something like finding Brazil on a map.
If nothing else, it would increase the work pool for call centers in the U.S.
Reread my statement. I qualified with "...stay around for a few centuries..."
How long have racism, sexism, false propaganda and aversion to technology been around?
Besides, this started when you disputed my first post where I was stating how old people tend to have outdated and fallacious ideas and shouldn't be the only ones who vote. I elaborated on this after you disputed it and you come back with this dodge. My post was not just about ideas that have been around for a few centuries, and you were responding to my post.
Really? While ideally every voter should be well informed but most aren't. Voting is a civil right and shouldn't be granted or taken away because some folks in their 20s are idiots. There are so dumb 30 year olds too. Trust me I know.
I find a lot of 18 year olds to be misinformed or misguided. That being said, I also find a lot of 40 and 50 olds to be exactly the same way.
If an eighteen year can drive a car, smoke, legally marry, and serve in the military than he can be afforded the opportunity to vote. I would hope some 18 year olds be do more reading rather than social networking, texting, or racking up 6000 minutes on their cell phones. Part of that responsibility can be tagged on their parents who have allowed them for years to avoid partaking in serious issues in lieu of costing the family an extra million bucks a month on texting.
However, to take the vote away from 18 year olds due to lack of depth would be foolish----as I have previously noted that my daily observations reveal that not a whole lot of adults understand current events and are more interested in reality tv and staying afloat.
This raises the specter of the general dumbing down of America----it is a universal problem affecting both the young and adults. I have a lot to learn myself so I am not immune. However,the problem of ignorance and avoidance is becoming a huge national disgrace and doesnt show signs of changing.
Actually we live in a representative Republic and not a Democracy.
We are both a Republic and a Democracy.
One does not preclude the other. There are many democracies that have a monarch as the head of state (e.g. Britain, Canada, the Antipodes, Spain, the Netherlands, Sweden, etc.) Likewise there are many republics that are VERY undemocratic. (e.g. North Korea, Zimbabwe, Cuba, Iran, and too many others to name). We happen to be both.
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If you argue that they lack the skills to plan ahead and make right decisions, they might use that as an excuse when committing crimes.
