An Alarming Observation

[F1fan]

Its actually a privilege if you look back into history.

Otherwise, the founding fathers would have seen everyone voting on day one.

Why it was like that during those times would make a very interesting topic I would think.

Do you agree that women and black citizens should be allowed to vote?

 

[Mock Turtle]

Yes.

Epistocracy: a political theorist’s case for letting only the informed vote

It was also a quite common refrain on here and IRL post-Trump win/Brexit

Going back to Plato, self-elected 'smart people' have thought they should have more say in societies governance than those they deem intellectually inferior.

Yeah, it's definitely the dimwits who should be in charge! Roll on the inevitable end! Who the hell needs ****ing experts!

But would it be so bad if a weighting system applied as to how votes counted, and based on some form of knowledge/ability however this might be construed?

 

[Twilight Hue]

Well I agree one needs to see the questions before relying 100% on the answers.

But, speaking for yourself, do you see the vote as a right or a privilege? And do you think the last presidential election was stolen?

I hold the opinion that voting is a privilege and yes , I think Biden won fair and square.

Trump in my opinion should have just conceded and helped Biden get properly acquainted.

 

[Wandering Monk]

Democracies fail when people turn to one person to fix their world.

 

[Augustus]

But would it be so bad if a weighting system applied as to how votes counted, and based on some form of knowledge/ability however this might be construed?

Yes, of course it would.

Disenfranchising minorities and socially disadvantaged members of society is immoral and extremely divisive.

Would turbo charge 'populism' and authoritarianism too

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

I would not normally post a video with no further explanation, but this one is short and VERY to the point.

So what do you think?

I kind of like Beau of the Fifth Column. I listen to him quite often.

The quote ""If conservatives become convinced that they cannot win democratically, they will not abandon conservatism. They will reject democracy" actually was made by David Frum, George W. Bush's speechwriter, a noted conservative (and Canadian, by birth, by the way).

And by the way, I fully agree -- I've been saying this for a while, along with some remarkable thinkers (who have helped my poor analytical abilities enormously) like Madeleine Albright (Fascism: a Warning).

 

[Mock Turtle]

Yes, of course it would.

Disenfranchising minorities and socially disadvantaged members of society is immoral and extremely divisive.

Would turbo charge 'populism' and authoritarianism too

Perhaps it might incentivize people to become more knowledgeable, and possibly raise the bar as to accurate information/discussions and such. No one would be disenfranchised - just some having more weight than others. Just as we do now with regards the wealthy as compared with those not so.

 

[exchemist]

I hold the opinion that voting is a privilege and yes , I think Biden won fair and square.

Trump in my opinion should have just conceded and helped Biden get properly acquainted.

Who, in your view, confers the privilege of a vote on a citizen, and on what grounds?

 

[Wandering Monk]

Are religious people more likely to support Fascism?

 

[The Kilted Heathen]

How very leftist.

How very Authoritarian. You do understand that we can see what he's talking about in the video happening every day? Live, for all the world to see and under half the nation to ignore and/or support.

 

[Nakosis]

Yes, in a democracy, everyone gets a vote, even republicans. As Socrates said, this is mob rule. So whoever rules the mob gets to run the country.
The difference in the US is the Constitution. It provides protection for the minority.

 

[Wandering Monk]

Yes, in a democracy, everyone gets a vote, even republicans. As Socrates said, this is mob rule. So whoever rules the mob gets to run the country.
The difference in the US is the Constitution. It provides protection for the minority.

In Socrates time, the only Greeks who were allowed to vote were male landowners.

 

[Valjean]

Weren't there articles and tweet threads about how democracy had went too far or there was too much democracy when Trump won? I'm pretty sure I remember fairly centrist American liberal types (Hillary cultists) basically advertising their grief in a "the stupids shouldn't be allowed to vote" kind of way.

I think you've got the anti-vote parties reversed.:

 

[Nakosis]

In Socrates time, the only Greeks who were allowed to vote were male landowners.

At least they had a pig in the game.
Seems silly to me how democrats decry republican as the threat to democracy and republican decry democrats as the threat to democracy when it is all really about which mob rules.
The real threat to democracy is political parties.

 

[PureX]

Are religious people more likely to support Fascism?

I think that's impossible to say; simply because religion gets used so often to further other agendas.

 

[Valjean]

Yes, in a democracy, everyone gets a vote, even republicans. As Socrates said, this is mob rule. So whoever rules the mob gets to run the country.
The difference in the US is the Constitution. It provides protection for the minority.

In Socrates time, the only Greeks who were allowed to vote were male landowners.

And in Thomas Jefferson's time, only white male landowners could vote.

 

[Wandering Monk]

I think that's impossible to say; simply because religion gets used so often to further other agendas.

Thinking of Franco's support from the Catholic Church, Hitler's support from the German Lutheran Church, Mussolini's support from the Catholic Church, then there are Central and South American fascists supported by the Catholic Church.

 

[Valjean]

At least they had a pig in the game.
Seems silly to me how democrats decry republican as the threat to democracy and republican decry democrats as the threat to democracy when it is all really about which mob rules.
The real threat to democracy is political parties.

Good point. Both major parties have been captured by corporate interests.

Maybe the Greens will save us.... and ranked choice voting.

 

[Valjean]

Wandering Monk said: ↑
Are religious people more likely to support Fascism?

Are religions democracies? Do religions tend to be hierarchical and authoritarian?

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

Weren't there articles and tweet threads about how democracy had went too far or there was too much democracy when Trump won? I'm pretty sure I remember fairly centrist American liberal types (Hillary cultists) basically advertising their grief in a "the stupids shouldn't be allowed to vote" kind of way.

I am a rock-solid believer in democracy, that every citizen has the right (I would prefer the responsibility) to vote, and that voting ought to be made as hassle-free as humanly possible. All of these things are true in Canada, where I live.

And when the vote doesn't turn out the way that I would have liked, then I also believe it is my responsibility to get on with dealing with the new -- legitimate -- government, whether it was my choice or not. There is always, after all, another vote coming up.