Modern Civics

Any right-to-vote test is a moral abomination and has no place in a free democracy.Anyone thinking otherwise needs to get their head out of the clouds that are in their ass.Jon

People who vote don't vote because they feel strongly about voting, they vote because they feel strongly about the issue they are voting on.JonEdited by Jon, : No reason given.

They are also easily swayed by other silly things, like the desire to vote for policies that provide for their education.Damn illiterates. Only ever looking out for themselves...Jon

The obvious answer is that I cared immensely, but the city knew that me and my neighbors, poor Spanish-speaking manual laborers that we are, don't have the time or resources enough to learn such and such arbitrary fact about Joe Dickhead and his opponent Jim Blowjob running for mayor or the office that they're running for and so figured setting up a city dump in our backyard would be ideal as we'd be unable to pass the medieval torture tests required to vote against the policy and they wouldn't have to worry about our opposition... or all the cancer our children would be getting.Jon

But they already know everything there is to know about how democracy works, which is that they have an opinion and they can voice it through voting. The rest is all arbitrary icing and sprinkles. And not particularly tasty stuff either.Jon

I don't even understand what you're getting at with this.I think Jos is entirely aware that he is going into the booth for the sole purpose of voting against the placement of a city landfill behind his house.Jon

Guilty.But what I've said still stands. Your requirement that people demonstrate a certain standard of intelligence before being allowed to participate in their government has no place in a free democracy.Jon

Isn't that a problem with the language on the ballot?Jon

quote:

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Wikipedia on Republic:

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A distinct set of definitions for the word republic evolved in the United States. In common parlance a republic is a state that does not practice direct democracy but rather has a government indirectly controlled by the people. This is known as representative democracy. This understanding of the term was originally developed by James Madison, and notably employed in Federalist Paper No. 10. This meaning was widely adopted early in the history of the United States, including in Noah Webster's dictionary of 1828.

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Even an indirect democracy can be a free one. Couldn't agree with you more.Jon

And that is our loss as a society.

Not really. But if the language on the ballot is really going to be a problem, the polling place can simply provide free interpreters.Jon

But Jos's not an uninformed voter. He knows the city wants to put a dump behind his house. He knows that he does not want this to happen. He knows there will be a vote taken. He knows where the voting will be held and for how long the polls will be open. He's even brought the proper paperwork with him for registering.Jos is as informed as he needs to be to vote on the issue in question. Now, granted, he may not be as informed as you want him to be, but why the hell should Jos have to jump through hoops just to soothe your ruptured ass?Jon

It's just one more voice lost.

You mean, wouldn't it be a shame if there was some completely preventable error (ass shit language on a ballot) that resulted in Jos voting for the wrong thing?Yeah... I think it would. Which is why I'm all for making the language on the ballots less ass-shit-ish. Yup, democracy is an imperfect system. But that doesn't mean we need to help it along in that regard by restricting the rights of citizens to participate.Jon

If the language on the ballot is difficult to understand, then the language needs to be reworked so that it is easier to understand.