4 ms·

In 1776, only a small group of the educated elite could vote. In 2013, you don't even have to be literate.

fnordfnordfnord 13y ago
It's strange though. I'd bet that you could depend upon the illiterate to make a reasonable choice. I think they'd favor the candidate/party who would educate their children. It's crap like in this video where some guy apparently has no trouble finding people willing to sign a petition to "repeal the Bill of Rights" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0he0cqHH20 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0he0cqHH20 PS Forgive me for the partisan nature of the video, the guy seems to maybe imply that the opposite party is less likely to fall in line so easily. I don't think that's the case at all. Just that people in general give very little attention and thought to politics.
- mpyne 13y ago
  Could or could not depend upon the illiterate? I ask only because I'm having trouble making sense of the whole comment under the assumption that we can bet on the illiterate to make a reasonable choice when there's no trouble finding people to repeal the Bill of Rights... :-/
  - fnordfnordfnord 13y ago
    One way that blacks and minorities were discriminated against in the US is via mandatory literacy tests[1] before they would be allowed to vote. Blacks and poor people were treated that way because it was expected that they would vote a certain way. [1] http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_vault/2013/06/28/voting_rights_and_the_supreme_court_the_impossible_literacy_test_louisiana.html http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_vault/2013/06/28/voting_right...
    - mpyne 13y ago
      Sure, but I don't see how expecting that the illiterate would vote in a reasonable way when the literate do not (given the Bill of Rights example) is actually much less discriminatory.
- javert 13y ago
  > I think they'd favor the candidate/party who would educate their children. Coercing other people to provide education is not the right thing to do. There are other economically reasonable ways of providing education that don't infringe rights. A nice side effect is that a market for education would, in the long run, commoditize high-quality, affordable education. The market has worked well in every industry that has remained a reasonably free market. The US K-12 education system is currently pretty bad except in well-to-do areas, and higher education is a massive bubble. After all, isn't not stealing the first thing we ought to be teaching our children?
D9u 13y ago
Perhaps you've heard of the "Electoral College?" It's a special group of people who actually do the voting in Presidential elections. http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/about.html http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/a...
javert 13y ago
Exactly.

It's strange though. I'd bet that you could depend upon the illiterate to make a reasonable choice. I think they'd favor the candidate/party who would educate their children. It's crap like in this video where some guy apparently has no trouble finding people willing to sign a petition to "repeal the Bill of Rights" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0he0cqHH20 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0he0cqHH20 PS Forgive me for the partisan nature of the video, the guy seems to maybe imply that the opposite party is less likely to fall in line so easily. I don't think that's the case at all. Just that people in general give very little attention and thought to politics.

mpyne 13y ago
Could or could not depend upon the illiterate? I ask only because I'm having trouble making sense of the whole comment under the assumption that we can bet on the illiterate to make a reasonable choice when there's no trouble finding people to repeal the Bill of Rights... :-/
- fnordfnordfnord 13y ago
  One way that blacks and minorities were discriminated against in the US is via mandatory literacy tests[1] before they would be allowed to vote. Blacks and poor people were treated that way because it was expected that they would vote a certain way. [1] http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_vault/2013/06/28/voting_rights_and_the_supreme_court_the_impossible_literacy_test_louisiana.html http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_vault/2013/06/28/voting_right...
  - mpyne 13y ago
    Sure, but I don't see how expecting that the illiterate would vote in a reasonable way when the literate do not (given the Bill of Rights example) is actually much less discriminatory.
javert 13y ago
> I think they'd favor the candidate/party who would educate their children. Coercing other people to provide education is not the right thing to do. There are other economically reasonable ways of providing education that don't infringe rights. A nice side effect is that a market for education would, in the long run, commoditize high-quality, affordable education. The market has worked well in every industry that has remained a reasonably free market. The US K-12 education system is currently pretty bad except in well-to-do areas, and higher education is a massive bubble. After all, isn't not stealing the first thing we ought to be teaching our children?

D9u 13y ago

Perhaps you've heard of the "Electoral College?" It's a special group of people who actually do the voting in Presidential elections. http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/about.html http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/a...

javert 13y ago

Exactly.