Official Political Picture Thread - Topic

sure it is. but in my opinion, it's pretty obvious that persons under the age of 18 should not be allowed to vote.

what do high school students know about taxes, why should they be allowed to vote - among other things - on taxes while they didnt even have the chance to pay taxes yet? why should they be allowed to vote on tax policy and various other things that dont even affect them (yet)?
what do high school students know about values and philosophy, given that almost all of them have not left their parents home and grew up absorbing their parents ideas and beliefs without ever even having had the chance to stand on their own feet, experience how the world works and develop convictions of their own?
what do high school students know about the way society is, or should be, functioning?

in the end, the voting age should be where most young people finish up school and start standing on their own feet. and that is around 18 years.

If we were to limit voting based on wisdom and knowledge, then we'd have to prevent a large number of adults from voting as well. Many 17-year-olds are far wiser and more informed than many adults. A simple age requirement seems heavily flawed.

Many, many political policies affect teenagers, and many political policies don't affect some adults, so that doesn't seem to me to be a convincing argument.

Black XistenZ

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#17734

Feb 26 2018 01:31pm

Quote (tonerbond @ 26 Feb 2018 20:01)

Thank god people on welfare cant vote on issues regarding welfare, that’d just be silly

while I am absolutely for the right of people on welfare to vote, this situation does indeed create issues. remember Romney and his 47% comment?

Quote (Voyaging @ 26 Feb 2018 20:23)

wisdom and knowledge obviously have a huge range between individuals. there are of course educated and informed 17-year-olds. but we have to draw a line somewhere... and to me, the age where most young folks leave their parents' homes, start exploring the world on their own and start to take care for every aspect of their own lives is the most sensible and "natural" cutoff.

This post was edited by Black XistenZ on Feb 26 2018 01:31pm

Voyaging

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#17735

Feb 26 2018 01:35pm

Quote (Black XistenZ @ Feb 26 2018 02:31pm)

while I am absolutely for the right of people on welfare to vote, this situation does indeed create issues. remember Romney and his 47% comment?

wisdom and knowledge obviously have a huge range between individuals. there are of course educated and informed 17-year-olds. but we have to draw a line somewhere... and to me, the age where most young folks leave their parents' homes, start exploring the world on their own and start to take care for every aspect of their own lives is the most sensible and "natural" cutoff.

Yeah I'd largely agree, I just think think there are better alternatives to a simple age requirement. But if we start to get into the realm of requiring proof of reasoning ability or knowledge, we get into murky water. Who gets to decide who qualifies for the right to vote?

Democracy blows, anyway.

tonerbond

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#17736

Feb 26 2018 01:37pm

Quote (Black XistenZ @ Feb 26 2018 11:31am)

while I am absolutely for the right of people on welfare to vote, this situation does indeed create issues. remember Romney and his 47% comment?

Im a millennial, presidents before clinton dont exist
Now shut up and give me my welfare

fender

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#17737

Feb 26 2018 01:39pm

fascinating how so many right wingers are perfectly fine with extreme gerrymandering and voter suppression, even encourage the impeachment of judges trying to fix the issue - but the mere thought of teenagers voting offends them...
to be clear, i personally think 18 is about the right age. however, the support or opposition to certain ideas and policies, SOLELY based on which party they would most likely benefit, is pretty pathetic...

Santara

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#17738

Feb 26 2018 01:44pm

Quote (dro94 @ Feb 26 2018 12:56pm)

Question to you and others that have AR-15's or other automatic weapons: would you give them up if they were federally banned?

First, they're not automatic weapons. Like most rifles in the United States, they're semiautomatic. One trigger pull = 1 shot down range.

To answer your question:

This post was edited by Santara on Feb 26 2018 01:45pm

Black XistenZ

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#17739

Feb 26 2018 01:51pm

Quote (Voyaging @ 26 Feb 2018 20:35)

well, the main issue I see with requiring proof of reasoning and knowledge is that it would, in practice, be super hard to separate those traits from the environment kids grew up in. the young latino from a crappy school in the hood would have massively inferior chances at developing the eloquence and debating skills required to pass this test than a rich white kid from an affluent suburb.

abandoning the one man, one vote principle makes things a mess real quick.

Quote

Democracy blows, anyway.

do you know any better alternatives?

Quote (fender @ 26 Feb 2018 20:39)

just to be clear: I would also advocate against sub-18 year old voters if that demographic was leaning right instead of left.

This post was edited by Black XistenZ on Feb 26 2018 01:51pm

dro94

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#17740

Feb 26 2018 01:51pm

Quote (Santara @ Feb 26 2018 08:44pm)

First, they're not automatic weapons. Like most rifles in the United States, they're semiautomatic. One trigger pull = 1 shot down range.

To answer your question:

http://gif-finder.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Leonardo-DiCaprio-Absolutely-fucking-not.gif

So you'd kill and risk you and your family being killed so you could carry an AR 15?

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