Angry memo

[gabossie]

I'm always amazed at how intelligent, and occasionally how childish (ahem, you know who you are), some of the people we have on here are. Good to know we're not among fools.

[Drift Machine]

Except S13sr20chris, welcome back to post colonial America. I don't own land, but I feel I'm far more qualified to make an educated vote than many people that do own land.

HAHAH! Seems like he wants to bring back the feudal system

[Jesda]

There is no definite way to judge intelligence or knowledge, and I contend that there ought not be any test or qualifications other than age and citizenship to cast a vote.

But, what is legal and free is not always what is best. A responsible society ought to encourage knowledge before action.

[Slightly Unrelated]I dont know how it works in other states, but in Washington anyone can get an absentee vote. Just call the county elections office and sign up. However here in Missouri, you need an approved reason. There's legislation floating around to change that so anyone can vote absentee.

Some argue that absentee voting allows the head of household (say, the man or woman that makes all the decisions) to have an unfair influence on the vote that isnt there at a private, secure booth. A parent could theoretically nag or coerce their son, daughter, or spouse into voting their way.

-Jesda

[gabossie]

I'm an absentee voter, and so are my parents. I already have my ballot sitting here on my desk, I just have to vote and send it back. It's EXTREMELY convenient when I'm living in socal for school, since I intend on moving back to the bay area when I graduate, and I care more about the legislation in my home town than I do down here in LA.

[Rockenreno]

I'm also an absentee voter. Much easier that way when I'm down here at shcool.

[VashFC]

A responsible society ought to encourage knowledge before action.

I think this is a very important realization to make. If you look at how many of the youth oriented voting campaigns are aimed, you'll see that the first thing that they prioritize is the act of voting. I think voting is indeed a civil duty. There's nothing that I hate more than a person who complains about politics and claims to "hate" a certain candidate yet is too lazy to vote. No Vote = No Opinion. So keep it to yourself. These youth oriented programs, like "Rock the Vote" by MTV and many of the ones circulating around college campuses basically just tell the masses to go out and pick someone. They totally miss the mark on emphasizing the importance of picking a candidate that will represent you. I'm 21, so many of my friend are young as well. I have a good portion of them that don't watch the news or read newspapers regularly. However, disregarding their lack of education/information on the political candidates they seem to have manifested these alarmingly strong feelings either for or against candidates or political parties. I don't feel that this is an isolated incident amongst my friends either. I think this applies to a rather large number of people from 18-25.These people seem to believe in very general ideals that may or not be true, yet since they have no encouragement to seek out information regarding these issues, they are perfectly content in their ignorance. For example, I was speaking with a good friend of mine in the US the other night and he said he was voting for Kerry because Bush made the war happen. Well, I see where he's going with this, and it's obvious that Bush was for the invasion of Iraq, that's the only thing he knows. Yes, it's his right to vote for the candidate of his choosing based on that information alone, however I feel uneasy knowing that so many people do the same thing. Voting on such a limited (or total lack) of knowledge of a candidate might not even be in the voter's best interest. There may be policies that the candidate my promote that the voter strongly disagrees or agrees with, but they'll never know because nobody ever told them to be informed. They only told them to vote.Now I realize that media isn't the only thing that impresses ideas on youth... but it certainly makes up the majority of it.I also feel that we need to get rid of the electoral college. This practice is outdated and who knows, maybe biased. Either way, the idea of it in general makes me uncomfortable.Oh, and regarding the absentee ballots, I'm filling one out myself since I'm in Japan currently.

- Chris

[s13sr20chris]

HAHAH! Seems like he wants to bring back the feudal system

i cant seem to come up with a downside to my plan. im open to your suggestions. i believe my domestic farm animals need to be fed now j/k

[Mr1der]

this thread needs more paprazzi beating...