4 ms·

It scares me very much that these people vote and the terrible state of American politics largely reflects that. If you can’t have the forethought to call you

It scares me very much that these people vote and the terrible state of American politics largely reflects that. If you can’t have the forethought to call your grandson to see before giving someone $10,000, do you have the brain capacity to make an intelligent voting choice? I know this is a tangent to your comment but after seeing my parents and others their age do similar things to what you describe it makes me wonder about voting and driving with no age limits or proof of non-dementia.

supertrope 4y ago
Yeah there's something off about the person's competence. This is not a corrupt country with bag men and personal connections trumping law. Anything important is in writing. Even if this were a real personal injury tragedy $10K in blood money won't make legal problems go away. That's barely enough for an ambulance ride, ER examination, and some imaging. Just like email phishing educating the public is very laborious but it is the ultimate solution. There will still be a few people who fall for scams no matter how extensive the PSA campaigns.
- mschuster91 4y ago
  The problem is, education alone won't help. Dementia, alzheimer's etc. are horrible, and ffs even experts on scams can get scammed like one of the scambaiter Youtubers (iirc Jim Browning?). You need to fix scams at the source: sanction India and other countries until they kick up efforts to neutralize scammers, and replace insecure systems like SSN.
dylan604 4y ago
I'm much much less concerned about senior citizens casting their vote than I am about the number of people that get their "news" from opinion shows under the banner of news programming. Doesn't matter the network, but if you're providing opinions, a giant opaque 288pt Impact font overlay of the word OPINION should be mandated to be on the screen. As long as people are duped into thinking opinions are news, we're never going to get a better electorate.
elboru 4y ago
It’s dangerous to draw lines. Where should we draw the age line? 80? 70? 60? I know people in their 70s with better cognitive abilities than the average middle age person. In that case, let’s ask for cognitive tests to gain the right to vote! Unfortunately there will be people who will never be capable of passing the test even during their 20s or 30s. Those who cannot pass the test could be less capable thanks to the environment (poor neighborhoods, poor education, bad childhood, missing one or two parents, exposed to toxic chemicals during pregnancy) or simply less lucky in the genetic side. Are we ready to take away the right to vote from old people even if they are more capable than you and me? If not, are we ready to take away the right to vote from less privileged people?
- tenebrisalietum 4y ago
  We already draw a line: those under 18 can't vote. The main problem it seems is that we don't know when someone will die. /s

supertrope 4y ago

Yeah there's something off about the person's competence. This is not a corrupt country with bag men and personal connections trumping law. Anything important is in writing. Even if this were a real personal injury tragedy $10K in blood money won't make legal problems go away. That's barely enough for an ambulance ride, ER examination, and some imaging. Just like email phishing educating the public is very laborious but it is the ultimate solution. There will still be a few people who fall for scams no matter how extensive the PSA campaigns.

mschuster91 4y ago
The problem is, education alone won't help. Dementia, alzheimer's etc. are horrible, and ffs even experts on scams can get scammed like one of the scambaiter Youtubers (iirc Jim Browning?). You need to fix scams at the source: sanction India and other countries until they kick up efforts to neutralize scammers, and replace insecure systems like SSN.

dylan604 4y ago

I'm much much less concerned about senior citizens casting their vote than I am about the number of people that get their "news" from opinion shows under the banner of news programming. Doesn't matter the network, but if you're providing opinions, a giant opaque 288pt Impact font overlay of the word OPINION should be mandated to be on the screen. As long as people are duped into thinking opinions are news, we're never going to get a better electorate.

elboru 4y ago

It’s dangerous to draw lines. Where should we draw the age line? 80? 70? 60? I know people in their 70s with better cognitive abilities than the average middle age person. In that case, let’s ask for cognitive tests to gain the right to vote! Unfortunately there will be people who will never be capable of passing the test even during their 20s or 30s. Those who cannot pass the test could be less capable thanks to the environment (poor neighborhoods, poor education, bad childhood, missing one or two parents, exposed to toxic chemicals during pregnancy) or simply less lucky in the genetic side. Are we ready to take away the right to vote from old people even if they are more capable than you and me? If not, are we ready to take away the right to vote from less privileged people?

tenebrisalietum 4y ago
We already draw a line: those under 18 can't vote. The main problem it seems is that we don't know when someone will die. /s