An email fwd to me from the Gulf

[IntenseOperator]

Be a good citizen and use your freedom to vote.

At about the time our original 13 states adopted their new constitution in
1787, a Scottish history professor by the name of Professor Alexander Tyler
had this to say about "The Fall of the Athenian Republic" over 2,000 years
previous to that date.
The Fall of the Athenian Republic.

"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only
exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse
(generous gifts) from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority
always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public
treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose
fiscal policy, (which is) always followed by a dictatorship." "The average
age of the world's greatest civilizations has been two hundred years. These
nations have progressed through this sequence. From bondage to spiritual
faith; from spiritual faith to great courage; from courage to liberty; from
liberty to abundance, from abundance to complacency; from complacency to
apathy, from apathy to dependence, from dependence back into bondage."
..................................................
Professor Joseph Olson of Hamline University School of Law, St.Paul,
Minnesota, wrote this about the 2000 election:

Population of counties won by Gore 127 million, won by Bush 143 million.

Sq.miles of country won by Gore 580,000, won by Bush 2,427,000.

States won by Gore 19, by Bush 29.

Murder per 100,000 residents in counties won by Gore 13.2 by Bush 2.1 (not a
typo).

Professor Olson adds, "The map of the territory Bush won was (mostly) the
land owned by the people of this great country. Not the citizens living in
cities in tenements owned by the government and living off the
government....

Professor Olson thinks the US is now between the apathy and complacency
phase of democracy although he believes that 40 percent of the nation's
population has already reached the dependency phase.

(Both items above were verified through Google Internet Search)



Makes one think a bit

 

[bjfinste]

I've read that before, and it's flat-out stupidity. Of course Bush won more counties and square miles. All of the idiotic, small-town hicks across the country vote for him because he wants to make sure they get to keep their guns!!!! I know because I grew up around them.

If someone is an American citizen and he or she votes, that vote is worth no more or no less than any other, regardless of how much money they make or where they live or what color they are. Now I know some of the guys in here like Freeze don't think that minorities or gays or people without high-paying jobs deserve the right to vote, but to borrow a quote from the pro-war folk in here back in March... if you don't like it, then get the hell out.

What Professor Olson essentially is saying is that the vote of one person in Montana or South Dakota who happens to live on a farm should be worth more than someone who lives in an apartment in a city. Real American.

I guess I've always thought that every vote should be worth the same. I don't know where I came up with that crazy idea.

 

[Penguinfan]

I guess the conclusion could also be drawn that the un-educated do not make as much money as the educated do in this country therefore they can't afford to live in less populated places and thus live in cities where obviously murders and other crimes are taking place at an incredibly advanced rate (Gore voters). So the question is asked should the un-educated voters count as much as the educated voters, HELL NO. If they didn't know what was good for themselves (going to school) then why should they get to vote on what is good for others. I'll take the educated voters every time instead of the guy at the booth who says "Um my pa (least I think he was my pa) was a demecrot so I'll vote fer this Gore fella".

Can't say I am completely pleased with the job Bush is doing, but the system works, if we can just count em right.

Penguinfan

 

[bjfinste]

That's very true Penguinfan, but it's also true for Bush voters. All of the small town hicks who go to their factory jobs straight out of high school where they struggled to graduate despite taking all ag and shop classes to boost their GPAs (at least where I grew up) all voted for Bush because they were raised by republican NRA fanatics who are uneducated as well.

So should people who have a college degree count as one vote and people who didn't only count as a half vote? Or should a college degree be a requirement to vote? That's kind of what it sounds like you are saying.

And also, just so I'm not misunderstood, I believe Bush won the election fair and square. I think it's unfortunate because I feel he's a terrible, terrible president, but by the rules of the system that this nation has used forever he won. No debate there.

 

[IntenseOperator]

I'm liking one idea a bit...

If you pay income taxes, you can vote.

If you don't pay income taxes, you can't vote.

 

[Penguinfan]

Bjfinste
I agree with you. No a college degree should not be required, perhaps some sort of test should be though, like do you know what your candidate's view on a certain issue actually is. I think a vast majority of voters would be surprised that they disagree with their favorite candidate on a variety of issues. My point is that people uneducated about policy and the matters our nation face should not be allowed to vote on an equal basis as those who are educated on the subject. Is this possible, certainly not, but I sure wish it were. Simply going in and pulling the lever labeled Republican does not constitute an educated vote in my opinion. A good example is if an unknown candidate, let's call him Satan, were to convince everybody he could make abortion illegal and outlaw handguns forever what percentage of the population would vote for him simply on those two issues? The opposite is true as well as the other side would come out in droves to keep abortion and hand guns reguardless of other issues.

Penguinfan

 

[bjfinste]

Well said and very true.

 

[StevieD]

How many people in Iraq are qualified to vote under your guidelines? Maybe we should just let the guys running Enron vote, after all they were educated and they made good money!:shrug: