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What if voting is made mandatory? Will it reduce public apathy towards participation in the government and civics processes? Will it make us more responsible?

St-Sinner 9 Apr 17
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11 comments

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0

How about mandatory IQ and psychiatric testing for candidates?

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People aren’t happy with our choices. We need more viable political parties and corporations MUST be prevented from making donations. There should be a personal cap on donations, too. Maybe $5000 or something.

CS60 Level 7 Apr 17, 2019
1

No, it's the other way around !!! .... See how mandatory health care worked out as an example. More expensive and must pay penalty on your tax return if you didn't have coverage. Less government intervention !!!!!!!

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In a system with only two political parties, it would cease to be a true democracy. To remain democratic in that scenario, the system would require either many more parties, or zero parties.

3

there is apathy -- that is undeniable -- but when you look at the number of people who did not vote in recent elections, please also be aware that a huge number of them wanted to vote and were turned away, or had provisional ballots that were not counted, often for ridiculous reasons. i believe that apathy is a problem but voter suppression and outright cheating (not by voters) is a much bigger problem.

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What happens when you have elections like 2016 where you have to chose between a criminal, and... well a criminal?
If someone doesn't support any of the candidates shouldn't they reserve the right to retain their vote?

you mean between a criminal and someone who took a lot of heat for decades by people deliberately trying to paint her as a criminal? i don't know why people drink kool-aid. it doesn't taste good and it has no nutritional value.

g

@genessa No, I mean between a criminal and a criminal. I don't know why people drink the Kool-Aid either. I wouldn't have supported either of them if they weren't criminals based solely on political agenda, as if it mattered anyways. I'm all for reducing governance to bare bones functionality. I'm just as tired of the social engineering, tribalism, and straw man debates as you are. My political opinions are based on what is best for me. The functionality of democracy is based on that assumption, one that somehow we don't hit.
Farmers suport conservatives who spoil their land in favor of oil companies. (something personal )
Liberals suport higher taxation that ends up funding wars we can't win ( something personal )

Both sides are corupt. I will not suport a lesser evil, only a greater good.

@Happy_Killbot and look what you ended up with. is it better for you? is it better for anyone but the super-rich? and you are wrong about both being criminals. just dead wrong.

as for bare bones and taxes and all that.... feel free to go out and repair the roads yourself. maybe you don't need social security but i'd be dead, literally dead, without it.

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@genessa Half the roads in my home town were built and maintained by private citizens, including ones maintained by oil companies to keep their trucks moving which everyone can use without charge.
Do you really think that you couldn't have done better if you paid less in taxes your whole life? You could have used that money to grow something that might have been more than what you collect in social security just by making some safe long term investments.
This may be hard to wrap your head around, but when people give me things for free that I don't feel like I earned, I take offense. I would literally rather be punched then paid instead of just paid, even though that makes no sense.

@Happy_Killbot correct, i really know for a fact i could not have done better by myself. i live in the world, with other people, and people who do things cooperatively can achieve more than those who do not. as for social security, i am disabled, and now elderly too, so no, i could not have made safe long-term investments, for i never had anything to invest; employers do not voluntarily pay living wages for the most part. too many folks live paycheck to paycheck and have nothing to invest, or save, and one illness, one accident, one unforeseeable expense can ruin their lives. and you are also correct that what you have said makes no sense; it also seems antisocial and selfish. but then, that is a good description of libertarianism, whether or not you call yourself a libertarian (i didn't look).

g

@genessa You had time didn't you? What abut your mind? People live paycheck to paycheck instead of trying to be the one who gives the paycheck. I understand what it means to have an accident ruin your life. My dad was in a farming accident that left him unable to do his job, right before the financial crisis in 2008 that hit farmers hard. Because of this I had to learn to work both harder and smarter. From where you sit using your computer you have the potential to make millions from nothing. I would find it insulting if I had to wait to be fed, even if I needed the help.

@Happy_Killbot you know what? victim-blaming is not only rude, it turns people into victims who don't think of themselves that way. you can't sit there, not knowing me at all, and tell me what i can or can't do. maybe you're more easily and unreasonably insulted than i am. maybe you don't really understand what social security disability benefits are or do. maybe you make assumptions that don't help your case.

g

0

Other countries do it and they haven't imploded.

GwenC Level 7 Apr 17, 2019
0

Yes!
It will turn the balance of power sideways!

Voting days should be National Holiday or on Sunday!

This is how voting is done on over 90% of the Democratic country’s on this planet!

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I'd rather that those that haven't been paying attention to the issue would abstain from voting on it.

MrDMC Level 7 Apr 17, 2019

They do that now.

1

You realize that repubs would NEVER let this happen right??????

yes 😟

Yes!
The republican Fascists have been fighting that for over 100 years now!

1

I'd bet the 1st initiative to hit the ballot box would be to repeal mandatory voting, and itd pass overwhelmingly.

That said, I think it should be and it should be made easier to vote.

1of5 Level 8 Apr 17, 2019

It's not hard to vote. As long as no one is trying to stop you.

@KKGator I'm moving back to where they mail you the ballot and still not everyone can be bothered to do it

@1of5 I vote absentee almost all the time. I have never had a problem requesting my ballot, or receiving my ballot.
There is no "cure" for voter apathy. That's on the people who feel that way.
Making voting mandatory wouldn't do much to correct that. Especially if people feel like the penalty for not voting won't be enforced.

@KKGator that's why I think the first thing that would be voted on was repealing the mandatory aspect. Some people just don't get how importaint it is. Ironically enough.

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