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Seriously, some people have more vested in our country than others. While I do believe everyone should have a vote, shouldn't a home owner's vote count for 2 while an unemployed wino's vote only count for 1?
Criteria for more points of your vote could amount to clear titles for things. Let's say you get 1 point for simply being a citizen. You get additional points for:
being married
having a job (no matter how small)
each child
each degree (starting with High School)
each piece of real estate (you gotta pay your taxes on it)
being bi-lingual (speaking a second language is good for all Americans)
being a veteran
Quick example: with just this criteria, an employed married High school graduate with 2 children ----their vote would be worth 5
There may be additional criteria where points could be added (or perhaps even subtracted). But the conversation is worth having.
Any Thoughts??
Daffy
Too complicated. And introduces a new set of inequalities.
Too complicated. And introduces a new set of inequalities.
Inequalities, like say, the ignorant voter mass and the informed voter mass, where the former are the useful idiots of loophole agencies like moveon and swift boats for truth?
Better to silence the ones who do not wish to use the myriad of free resources to read up on current events.
So the person who committed insurance fraud caused no harm? Interesting.
What about the CEO of the insurance company, who cheated the person who "caused harm"? The guy who hired an army of adjustors whose sole purpose was to deny every claim they could possibly deny. Is he in prison too?
In what court are we going to hear challenges by 100,000,000 voters who feel that they are not getting their full share of votes? Who have to be listened to by a native speaker of another language, to determine if they are sufficiently bilingual to qualify for the extra point? If two people, who have three children each, but are not married, do they get 4 points each, for a total of 8, but then if they get married, they now get 7 each, for a total of 14, an increase of 6 for getting married, because each one now has 6 children and is married, but if two childless people get maried, their total only goes up by 2---one for each of the two married people? Do I get points for reading only serious books, or do I get points for reading books by Rush Linbaugh and televangelists, which are the only books I can buy at yard sales around here. How long does one have to spend in a foreign country to get the "knowledge about the world" credit? Does a gated resort hotel on a Caribbean island count? Oh, wait, that was viewfromthepeak's criteria.
Inequalities, like say, the ignorant voter mass and the informed voter mass, where the former are the useful idiots of loophole agencies like moveon and swift boats for truth?
Better to silence the ones who do not wish to use the myriad of free resources to read up on current events.
No, inequalities like when an unmarried, welfare recipient, living in a Section 8 home with 5 kids from three different fathers, and who is a high school drop-out has a vote worth 6 (including the one she gets because she's a citizen) under the proposal presented by the OP:
Quote:
Originally Posted by daffysentry
...
...You get additional points for:
being married
having a job (no matter how small)
each child
each degree (starting with High School)
each piece of real estate (you gotta pay your taxes on it)
being bi-lingual (speaking a second language is good for all Americans)
being a veteran
Quick example: with just this criteria, an employed married High school graduate with 2 children ----their vote would be worth 5
...
...while I, arguably more responsible in comparison, being unmarried, employed, without children, a college graduate, a homeowner, but never served in the military has a vote worth 4 (including the one I get because I am a citizen) .
Seriously, some people have more vested in our country than others. While I do believe everyone should have a vote, shouldn't a home owner's vote count for 2 while an unemployed wino's vote only count for 1?
Criteria for more points of your vote could amount to clear titles for things. Let's say you get 1 point for simply being a citizen. You get additional points for:
being married
having a job (no matter how small)
each child
each degree (starting with High School)
each piece of real estate (you gotta pay your taxes on it)
being bi-lingual (speaking a second language is good for all Americans)
being a veteran
Quick example: with just this criteria, an employed married High school graduate with 2 children ----their vote would be worth 5
There may be additional criteria where points could be added (or perhaps even subtracted). But the conversation is worth having.
Well, technically, with the electoral college, people's votes ARE "weighted" in a sense, because unless you live an a potential swing state, your vote is going to "mean less" than someone's vote in a swing state.
Indeed, in the Democratic primaries, for example, if you live in a caucus state, or small state, your vote could mean a magnitude more than someone who lives in a large, primary state.
Who's says you're a "better" person and should get more say if you're married, or have a degree, or have a house, or CHILDREN (I'd say you'd get points off for that one)!?
Geez, who's going to make up the rules - all the heterosexual married people with kids? They already make up all the rules.
This reminds me of the old George Carlin joke about drivers (people who drive faster than me are maniacs, people who drive slower are idiots). To put it politically, people who put more effort than I in knowing about the candidates, issues, and items on the ballot are political fanatics, and people who know less are idiots who shouldn't be allowed to vote. Anyone who cares enough to register and then set aside the time to go to the polls has a right to vote. Weighting votes isn't about fairness, it's about giving certain groups more political power than they already have. Giving points to people because they live certain lifestyles is a huge judgment call because not only are you empowering college-educated, married homeowners with children, but because you are stripping power away from people who don't live this lifestyle. The choices listed are investments, but not everyone has the resources to make those investments. College is beyond some people's means, we have laws against some people wedding, some people are physically unable to have children. So this is just a lousy idea.
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