shouldn't vote?

[//\/\/]

i've noticed the right starting to get very uppity about voter ignorance - the feeling being that the majority of those voting for obama don't know anything about politics and therefore shouldn't be voting.

so; they're willing to go to war to spread democracy; but not preach it at home?

this was linked from malkin

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2...5985719&page=1

[cacophony]

the left said the same thing about republicans who voted against obama because they thought he was a muslim. "if you're that stupid, you shouldn't be allowed to vote."

the left also said the same thing about rednecks who voted for bush and his cornball down home mannerisms.

the right has not cornered the market on this kind of rhetoric.

[bas_I_am]

Originally Posted by //\/\/

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2...5985719&page=1

haha! Too funny.

heres the homepage of the economist he used as the basis of his interview

http://economics.gmu.edu/bcaplan/

here is the fundamental fallacy of his view point -

He contends that if one doesn't know the name of something an idea or a person then they are illequipped to make a viable decision with regard to it.

This is completely untrue and can be proven with this truth:

Most people do not know what the the term 'Marginal Utility' means but they use it everyday when they make purchasing decisions.

Reductio Ad Absurdum: Caplan contends that people who do not know what Marginal Utility means should not be allowed to shop on their own.

[Sean]

I've said - only half kidding - that maybe a pop quiz at the door of every polling place might be a good idea to weed out the crazies and the stupids. But really, rather than encouraging anyone not to vote, we should probably be focusing on getting the people of this country better educated. The sad thing is, I don't know how that'll happen in a society where a show like The Hills is as popular as it is.

[jOHN rODRIGUEZ]

Originally Posted by bas_I_am

Reductio Ad Absurdum: Caplan contends that people who do not know what Marginal Utility means should not be allowed to shop on their own.

Man I wish they'd let me learn Latin when I wanted to.

The Hills? Never heard of it. The Hills Have Eys, now that's some scary stuff.

[BeautifulBurnout]

Originally Posted by //\/\/

i've noticed the right starting to get very uppity about voter ignorance - the feeling being that the majority of those voting for obama don't know anything about politics and therefore shouldn't be voting.

so; they're willing to go to war to spread democracy; but not preach it at home?

this was linked from malkin

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2...5985719&page=1

Ian, you are going to have to stop reading Malkin. She is really really not good for anyone's blood pressure

[//\/\/]

Originally Posted by BeautifulBurnout

Ian, you are going to have to stop reading Malkin. She is really really not good for anyone's blood pressure

...but good sport; and as somebody who seems to set fox's political agenda, she's worth keeping an eye on!

for somebody who always slates 'the msm', she doesn't half cosy up to newscorp - not that she's a hypocrite at all... ...it's just that she also won't hear a word said against palin ('you go girl!') because it's sexist to attack her; but she clearly fucking hates mrs obama! i could go on... ...and on...

...but i need my heart pills already!

[Deckard]

Originally Posted by //\/\/

this was linked from malkin

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2...5985719&page=1

I really don't want to click that just before bedtime.

Tomorrow.....

[dubman]

Originally Posted by cacophony

the left said the same thing about republicans who voted against obama because they thought he was a muslim. "if you're that stupid, you shouldn't be allowed to vote."

the left also said the same thing about rednecks who voted for bush and his cornball down home mannerisms.

the right has not cornered the market on this kind of rhetoric.

this a thousand times over.

[Deckard]

Originally Posted by cacophony

the left said the same thing about republicans who voted against obama because they thought he was a muslim.

Indeed some of us did (although I'll dispute the term left). In my case, only half-jokingly: meaning that while I recognize it to be instinctively problematic, I have to admit I've occasionally asked myself whether there might be some benefit in making voters have to pass some sort of exam before they're allowed to vote.

I don't put that out as a concrete belief or wish to defend it as such - I've not spent much time seriously considering the implications or how we might resolve the likely resultant discrimination (economic, disability, etc) to do that. And I agree with bass in that that if Joe the Plumber believes that Roe v. Wade is actually about segregation, it doesn't automatically follow that he doesn't have an opinion about abortion. On the other hand.... aren't there correlations to be acknowledged here?

I recognize the draconian nature of it, as well as (for something intending to improve democracy) the intrinsically undemocratic nature of it. But no-one can deny that democracy isn't currently being ill-served by the downward pull from morons, and politicians having to mould legislation to appease the least informed - certainly in my country anyway, where the reactionary tabloid press seem to hold so much sway over Parliament, and stupidity (and sounding tough - on immigration, etc) is almost worn as a badge of honour.

I suppose, yet again, like just about everything else, it can only come down to improving education. It's just that I have this fear - perhaps it's unfounded - that people in the democractic western nations are gradually becoming more and more stupid.