5 ms·

> I'm not 65 yet, but once I am I hope that others will recognize my productive achievements and will leave me the hell alone to do whatever I want to with the

> I'm not 65 yet, but once I am I hope that others will recognize my productive achievements and will leave me the hell alone to do whatever I want to with the rest of my limited time here on earth. 100% reasonable. If you're done contributing and want to sit the rest out you're welcome to in my book. But I suspect that most people keep at least 1 hand on the reigns in a critical way: they vote. If you're planning on influencing the lives of the following generations, I think it's pretty reasonable to be concerned about your mental well being.

rsj_hn 4y ago
Honestly I would much rather trust a voter who spends a lot of hours watching TV than someone who spends a lot of hours on social media.
- itishappy 4y ago
  I wouldn't. I suspect it's a lot easier to bump into differing viewpoints on social media than sitting in front of [insert channel here] for 8 hours a day. But I'm not at all confident in this, and I think that's the point. I think they're both likely to fuck you up, so I think it's reasonable to be concerned about both.
  - JediLuke 4y ago
myaccount9786 4y ago
This seems like a reasonable argument until you go deeper. > most people keep at least 1 hand on the reins in a critical way: they vote > it's reasonable to be concerned about [old people's] mental well being. So you're saying old people shouldn't be allowed to vote... because they're mentally incapable? I remember one time in American history when certain folks decided certain other folks were mentally incapable of voting... (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literacy_test https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literacy_test)
- lupire 4y ago
  Please don't post nonsensical rewrites of posts. Find a charitable interpretation, or at least an honest one.
  - myaccount9786 4y ago
    Just want to ask; how is it a disingenuous rewrite. What is the charitable interpretation of "old people have mental problems, but they still vote, and that's a problem"? That's literally what the parent comment says. I'm right to compare it to Jim Crow, I'm quoting verbatim, and that's essentially what they're arguing for.
    - myaccount9786 4y ago
      To clarify, there are two logical consequences of that parent comment. Suppose a 65yo person watches too much tv and still votes. 1. In order to be allowed to vote, they need to watch less tv. 2. They don't get to vote otherwise. My point is: we have so much stigma against the elderly in this country that arguments like these even appear reasonable at first glance. I'm arguing that there are dark consequences of this line of thinking. So, how is this not the same as another restrictive voting requirement, such as literacy tests or poll taxes?
      - itishappy 4y ago
        That's not at all what I had in mind, but I still think it's an interesting (if extreme) line of reasoning. Why do we ban 12-year-olds from voting? Seems we already have some concept of the capacity to vote built into our legal system here in the US. Wonder if that's true of all countries... Most states don't allow felons to vote either... It feels weird that you can vote by proxy even if you barely know your own name. I think I agree dementia patients should still be able to vote, but like... it feels weird, right? https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/blog/can-people-with-dementia-vote https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/blog/can-people-with-dementia-...
        4y ago

rsj_hn 4y ago

Honestly I would much rather trust a voter who spends a lot of hours watching TV than someone who spends a lot of hours on social media.

itishappy 4y ago
I wouldn't. I suspect it's a lot easier to bump into differing viewpoints on social media than sitting in front of [insert channel here] for 8 hours a day. But I'm not at all confident in this, and I think that's the point. I think they're both likely to fuck you up, so I think it's reasonable to be concerned about both.
- JediLuke 4y ago

myaccount9786 4y ago

This seems like a reasonable argument until you go deeper. > most people keep at least 1 hand on the reins in a critical way: they vote > it's reasonable to be concerned about [old people's] mental well being. So you're saying old people shouldn't be allowed to vote... because they're mentally incapable? I remember one time in American history when certain folks decided certain other folks were mentally incapable of voting... (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literacy_test https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literacy_test)

lupire 4y ago
Please don't post nonsensical rewrites of posts. Find a charitable interpretation, or at least an honest one.
- myaccount9786 4y ago
  Just want to ask; how is it a disingenuous rewrite. What is the charitable interpretation of "old people have mental problems, but they still vote, and that's a problem"? That's literally what the parent comment says. I'm right to compare it to Jim Crow, I'm quoting verbatim, and that's essentially what they're arguing for.
  - myaccount9786 4y ago
    To clarify, there are two logical consequences of that parent comment. Suppose a 65yo person watches too much tv and still votes. 1. In order to be allowed to vote, they need to watch less tv. 2. They don't get to vote otherwise. My point is: we have so much stigma against the elderly in this country that arguments like these even appear reasonable at first glance. I'm arguing that there are dark consequences of this line of thinking. So, how is this not the same as another restrictive voting requirement, such as literacy tests or poll taxes?
    - itishappy 4y ago
      That's not at all what I had in mind, but I still think it's an interesting (if extreme) line of reasoning. Why do we ban 12-year-olds from voting? Seems we already have some concept of the capacity to vote built into our legal system here in the US. Wonder if that's true of all countries... Most states don't allow felons to vote either... It feels weird that you can vote by proxy even if you barely know your own name. I think I agree dementia patients should still be able to vote, but like... it feels weird, right? https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/blog/can-people-with-dementia-vote https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/blog/can-people-with-dementia-...
      - 4y ago