Wanna Vote? Take a test.

th3midnighter

Shared on Thu, 06/12/2008 - 11:29
To drive a car, you need to take a test. But to elect the leader of your country, step right up and vote. Leave your Brain at the door.  I've always wondered why we don't require all citizens to have some basic knowledge and intelligence in order to have the privilege of voting for their candidate. I'm not necessarily advocating an IQ test although I think they should have an IQ test for anyone getting a drivers license cause there are way too many idiots on the road but thats another topic. Its kind of amazing the power and the responsibility that a President or Prime Minister is entrusted with and yet the people that elect him aren't held to the same level of scrutiny. I seriously think a mandatory national test whereby every interested voter would be forced to take a test on the issues of that election would reduce the sway that the window lickers have on an election. I'd like to live in a country where the people that vote with me are as knowledgeable about the issues as I am, if not more. If these candidates knew that the people that were electing them had some education, some knowledge about the issues, then maybe when they say "Our citizens aren't stupid, they get whats going on", they'd actually mean it.

Instead of using religion, race and gender to divide and alienate the masses, they would actually give us some real solutions to solve our economic and political woes. They'd be somewhat scared to give us false promises and grand sweeping plans without any concrete detail because they'd know, "shit the guy that votes for me passed the test, I can't just say what ever the fuck I want." (Or maybe their lies would just get more elaborate.) Right now, the people in power take the every day man for granted because well, they can feed gen pop any kind of nonsense and the majority of the people out there swallow it up without questioning the source or the validity of said nonsense. If nothing else, knowing that the voters weren't total morons who could actually identify Iraq on a map, and ask intelligent pertinent questions, maybe they'd be scared of the people instead of the people being scared of them. The law that states every man and woman has the right to vote should be changed to every INTELLIGENT man and woman has the right to vote imo.  I would also pass that law for anyone that wants to be a new parent but thats just me.

Comments

BCKinetic's picture
Submitted by BCKinetic on Thu, 06/12/2008 - 11:37
BWHAHAHAHAHAHA, educated voters.... AAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. phew, that's a good one. Oh no, one... more....... time...... BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA
Caesar's picture
Submitted by Caesar on Thu, 06/12/2008 - 11:49
i like your thoughts on this topic, and i agree 100% +1 on the blog
IamDank's picture
Submitted by IamDank on Thu, 06/12/2008 - 11:52
yea.. take away someones right because they may not be as smart as the person next to them... Lets also have them all be blonde with blue eyes too.
Kyosogi's picture
Submitted by Kyosogi on Thu, 06/12/2008 - 11:53
At some point you will have to accept the fact that you live in a society where a significant part of the population is under-educated, under-skilled, under-motivated, and over-compensated. There's a reason why many Asian countries have long ago labeled Americans as "fat and lazy."
TANK's picture
Submitted by TANK on Thu, 06/12/2008 - 11:53
Wait .... we're back to votes electing the President again? I must have missed the memo.
Lbsutke's picture
Submitted by Lbsutke on Thu, 06/12/2008 - 11:53
I understand what you are saying, but, just becuase someone is intelligent enough, does not mean they will make an intelligent choice. IMO you have 3 type of people, dumb, book smart, common sense smart. and in my scenerio I am most worried about the book smart people... Just because someone can pass a test about the upcoming election issues/what ever, does not mean they can make a choice based on intelligence. They may pass the test but because the are religion x, they may or may not vote for something based on their religion instead of the intelligent choice or they may vote one way on a ballot because the candidate is this gender/race...but they passed the test with flying colors... So in other words...You idea sucks...LOL Suck it.
MikeTheKnife's picture
Submitted by MikeTheKnife on Thu, 06/12/2008 - 11:56
You don't want 'intelligent' voters. You just want someone who will vote the way you want them to. Because you assume, if everyone is intelligent like you, then they will be smart enough to come to the same conclusions you have.
th3midnighter's picture
Submitted by th3midnighter on Thu, 06/12/2008 - 12:05
Kyosogi, I'd agree with you but after being a new dad, I feel like I can't just shrug and let the status quo stay the way it is.
th3midnighter's picture
Submitted by th3midnighter on Thu, 06/12/2008 - 12:10
Mike, I actually want voters who are aware of what the issues are. Nothing more. They can vote how they want to vote but they should atleast be aware of what they are voting on. Interesting reading material: http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/national/2008/06/03/the-ignorant-ame...
Mandingo's picture
Submitted by Mandingo on Thu, 06/12/2008 - 12:12
word, bring back the jim crow laws. I think you're onto something here.
Caesar's picture
Submitted by Caesar on Thu, 06/12/2008 - 12:24
it wouldnt have to be a scientific test, it could be a common sense text mixed with some general intelligence questions
MikeTheKnife's picture
Submitted by MikeTheKnife on Thu, 06/12/2008 - 12:26
It's an interesting read, but at its core it makes an assumption that I just don't agree with. That assumption is, we know voters are stupid because of who they vote into office. Just because you don't agree with the results of the vote, does not mean that people who voted differently from you are stupid. You want to deny people the vote because they are not as aware of the issues as you? What about the next guy up the ladder who feels YOU aren't well-informed enough to vote? And the guy above him? Fuck elitism in any form.
th3midnighter's picture
Submitted by th3midnighter on Thu, 06/12/2008 - 12:26
agreed C.
Caesar's picture
Submitted by Caesar on Thu, 06/12/2008 - 12:38
yeah but to a degree mtk people should want to become somewhat educated, i can see your point at what level is deemed educated and that is the biggest problem with this whole thing, but i also think people should have some kinda brain in there head instead of voting for say mccain because he wears dope colored ties.
MikeTheKnife's picture
Submitted by MikeTheKnife on Thu, 06/12/2008 - 12:40
Now wait, how can you agree with Caesar? You said you want voters aware of what the issues are. He said he wants a general intelligence test. Those two things are not even close to the same. What about a farmer who doesn't have time to follow all the issues? He knows about the issues that matter to him. He knows about farming. You're going to tell that guy he has no say whatsoever because either a) he doesn't know enough about health care reform or b) he wasn't able to pass an I.Q. test? What about some slack-jawed idiot who sits at home all day and watches nothing but news programs. He might know a hell of a lot about campaign issues, enough even to pass a test, but the guy is a moron. Does he get to vote?
th3midnighter's picture
Submitted by th3midnighter on Thu, 06/12/2008 - 12:54
lol Mike, take a deep breath. I havent actually come up with the test itself nor do I ever see this ever becoming real. I just think there should be more of a requirement for someone to vote than just their citizenship. If you are voting on Candidate A over Candidate B, you should be aware of the policies Candidate A and know exactly what programs he's planning on passing once hes in office. Right now, people vote based on nothing more than party allegiances and popular phrases. If they were to take a test on the issues at hand, combined with some basic knowledge based questions, the people that vote to elect a leader would be more aware of whom they are putting in power. Being more aware is never a bad thing imo.
Bluestar's picture
Submitted by Bluestar on Thu, 06/12/2008 - 13:09
If we are going to have intelligent voters, shouldn't we have intelligent politicians first?
BCKinetic's picture
Submitted by BCKinetic on Thu, 06/12/2008 - 13:45
I don't think the base of the problem is intelligent voters, it's intelligent parents. You shouldn't need a test for voters if people who wanted to be parents needed to take a test first.
Caesar's picture
Submitted by Caesar on Thu, 06/12/2008 - 13:47
@ bluestar lmfao niceeeeeeee
BCKinetic's picture
Submitted by BCKinetic on Thu, 06/12/2008 - 13:48
Oops, missed the last sentence of your post. New parents = already covered. ;)
Deman267's picture
Submitted by Deman267 on Thu, 06/12/2008 - 14:06
Great idea.The idiots have been in charge FAR too long.Problem is,they breed like rabbits. @Lefty/Mandingo-Are you SURE you mean that?Do you agree with that shit,or are you trying to make some kind of ironic point?
BELDAR's picture
Submitted by BELDAR on Thu, 06/12/2008 - 14:14
I don't think he is saying people who don't vote the way he does are stupid. I think this is directed at the people who say things like, "I'm not voting for obama because I don't think we should have a muslim as president" - quote of West Virginia resident during democratic primary. I agree with mid. I also agree with BC, you should have to pass some sort of test to be able to reproduce.
th3midnighter's picture
Submitted by th3midnighter on Thu, 06/12/2008 - 14:21
Exactly what Beldar said. Its not about voting my way...its about voting with some sort of knowledge base and really, how does making voters more knowledgeable about their country, and their politicians make it elitist? Thats just backwards to me. Don't you want all of your citizens to be more knowledgeable bout the issues they vote on? Isn't that a good thing?
MikeTheKnife's picture
Submitted by MikeTheKnife on Thu, 06/12/2008 - 14:24
Not if you force it on them.
Caesar's picture
Submitted by Caesar on Thu, 06/12/2008 - 14:37
forcing people to learn wow sounds terrible. here is the thing, when the country and the people are forced into a corner then they will want to do what it takes until that point they are lazy and could give a shit less. that bothers me. its like this gas issue, instead of people living comfortable they buy a hummer with 24 inch rims, now that gas is jacked they are forced to return to a mid size car or smaller vehicle. i swear to god i love our country but honestly i think we do shit ass backwards sometimes.
th3midnighter's picture
Submitted by th3midnighter on Thu, 06/12/2008 - 15:21
Twice in one day Caesar. I agree with you again.

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