We allow people to vote when they're 18 because they are now an adult responsible for themselves. We don't allow an 8 year old to vote because their understanding of the world is limited. Their knowledge is limited to such a point that their perception is flawed, and thus they cannot make any educated decisions. Hence they have parents.
People are flat out stupid.
Only 40% of people can identify the three branches of government or explain what the bill of rights is leaving the majority of people clueless. About 1 in 4 people can name 1 of the 5 rights guaranteed by the first amendment. But more than 50% of Americans could name at least two family members in the fictional cartoon “The Simpsons”.
America’s lack of common knowledge has gotten so bad that in 2003, the Strategic Task Force on Education Abroad investigated Americans' knowledge of world affairs. The task force concluded: "America's ignorance of the outside world is so great as to constitute a threat to national security.”.
In 1986 only 30% of Americans knew what the Supreme Court case “Roe vs. Wade” was about. In 1991 only 25% of people knew that the term of a senator was six years. A poll taken a few years ago show that only 20% of Americans know there are 100 senators. Only 49% of Americans know that the United States dropped a nuke in Japan.
Today in America one in five adults think the sun revolves around the earth. This idea was abandoned in the 17th century and yet one in five American adults believes it. To put that into perspective about 1 in 5 adults were unemployed in the U.S in 2009. The United States 2009 census estimated around 307 million people live in our country. and with some basic math we find that 1 in 5 means a staggering 61.4 million people think that the sun revolves around the earth.
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So why do we not require a competency test to vote? If adults today aren't past the intellectual capabilities of an 8 year old should they really vote? Do you really think their opinion on what we should do matters anymore than the 8 year old whom has no idea what you're talking about?
Democracy is the will of the mob. The mob consists of fools.
Just curious what you think about the idea of requiring some sort of competency test before being considered a 'voting adult'. The world needs working class citizens too .
People are flat out stupid.
Only 40% of people can identify the three branches of government or explain what the bill of rights is leaving the majority of people clueless. About 1 in 4 people can name 1 of the 5 rights guaranteed by the first amendment. But more than 50% of Americans could name at least two family members in the fictional cartoon “The Simpsons”.
America’s lack of common knowledge has gotten so bad that in 2003, the Strategic Task Force on Education Abroad investigated Americans' knowledge of world affairs. The task force concluded: "America's ignorance of the outside world is so great as to constitute a threat to national security.”.
In 1986 only 30% of Americans knew what the Supreme Court case “Roe vs. Wade” was about. In 1991 only 25% of people knew that the term of a senator was six years. A poll taken a few years ago show that only 20% of Americans know there are 100 senators. Only 49% of Americans know that the United States dropped a nuke in Japan.
Today in America one in five adults think the sun revolves around the earth. This idea was abandoned in the 17th century and yet one in five American adults believes it. To put that into perspective about 1 in 5 adults were unemployed in the U.S in 2009. The United States 2009 census estimated around 307 million people live in our country. and with some basic math we find that 1 in 5 means a staggering 61.4 million people think that the sun revolves around the earth.
------
So why do we not require a competency test to vote? If adults today aren't past the intellectual capabilities of an 8 year old should they really vote? Do you really think their opinion on what we should do matters anymore than the 8 year old whom has no idea what you're talking about?
Democracy is the will of the mob. The mob consists of fools.
Just curious what you think about the idea of requiring some sort of competency test before being considered a 'voting adult'. The world needs working class citizens too .