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My thoughts exactly...

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    #2
    OfflerCrocGod
    Registered Users Posts: 6,316 ✭✭✭OfflerCrocGod


    Yes but Americans are a special case.


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    #3
    bonkey
    Registered Users Posts: 15,443 ✭✭✭✭bonkey


    ionapaul wrote:
    Should you have to 'prove' something to get the vote?
    No.
    Maybe an easy political quiz?

    To what end? I think back to some of the stuff I attended courses for in Uni a decade ago, and I can barely remember the name of course subject...let alone any of the material in it. And I passed every single one of those exams.

    Forcing someone to pass a test does not ensure that - come any given chance to use their vote - they will be any more informed or educated about the issues of the day than they would have been without having taken the test.

    Its interesting that the solution is so often seen as a form of removing the influence of the uninformed/uneducated, rather than trying to tackle the root causes of the lack of information/education.

    Well, maybe sad or depressing would be a better description than interesting.


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    #4
    fleck
    Registered Users Posts: 47 ✭fleck


    Maybe I'm just displaying my own small town prejudices but after reading that article I would be much more inclined to vote for the village idiot over some intellectual beloved of the 'thinking' media.


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    #5
    simu
    Closed Accounts Posts: 10,730 ✭✭✭✭simu


    fleck wrote:
    Maybe I'm just displaying my own small town prejudices but after reading that article I would be much more inclined to vote for the village idiot over some intellectual beloved of the 'thinking' media.

    Why exactly? Did you find the writer's tone patronising or what?

    The problem with being an "intellectual" politician is that only a small percentage of voters appreciate this. To do well, you'd want to be able to switch from being "intellectual" in front of those who appreciate that to being a showman/woman in front of other voters whilst giving out a consistent message overall.


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    #6
    LightofDarkness
    Registered Users Posts: 316 ✭✭LightofDarkness


    Haha, that's some funny stuff. It is, however, somewhat sensationalised, and as we all know, "there are lies and there are statistics." We shouldn't gobble up everything that has a number beside it. Yes, the author was a little patronising, but to be fair, he has right to be. See, I have lived in America. And I am sick of that country being represented by either "The good 'ol boys" or the downright ignorant. People who are so atomised into their own little social world that they neglect all that goes on outside of their sphere of influence. A politicial literacy test seems like a sound idea. It hsould be implemented here, too. We all remember the Nice Treaty ordeal, don't we?


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