Tuesday, February 9, 2010

One (Any)Man, One Vote...Still The Best Of Lousy Options

To be honest, being mindful of the troubling implications of what Leo Szilard meant when he wrote;
"Even if we accept, as the basic tenet of true democracy, that one moron is equal to one genius, is it necessary to go a further step and hold that two morons are better than one genius?" (The Voice of the Dolphins)
I did like the idea of making people pass a civic test before being able to vote... That was until I saw this.


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I'd think it might still be a viable idea if the 'test' is standardized and only tests the most basic concepts of government (rather than being so specialized that only a law professor would have a prayer at passing it)... And that it is applied to everyone.

But then again... there are sick and old people and working people who haven't the time to keep up to date on their civvies (hardly the sort of knowledge used in everyday life for most people). They would be at a disadvantage at passing this hardly necessary test. The potential for abuse is so great that it is another one of Pandora's boxes (akin to the recent
Supreme Court ruling allowing unlimited political campaign spending by corporation) not worth opening, in my opinion.

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