I FIGURED IT OUT!
I figured out how to simply fix this country!!
Bear with me - some of you will know me as the type to propose ideas like "Remove reproductive organs of the unworthy parent" and similar ... this one is not so radical (but just as unlikely).
Change the voting laws ... i.e. who can vote.
As of this moment - anyone over the age of 17 that is a legal citizen of the United States and not so lazy to NOT register can VOTE. This is cruel and wrong. You don't even have to be alive! The great city of Chicago has had the dead voting for decades.
I'm not mean enough to state that only taxpayers should vote. Bottom line: There are some people who do not work, who cannot work, or who really do deserve their welfare (like an 18 year old on dialisis) that should still have the right to vote for whom they feel is fit to make their big decisions for the country. My solution is SO simple - it's frightening.
Service. Thats it. All you have to be able to do is, every year, demonstrate that you are doing something to make this country greater. Paying taxes doesn't count. Don't just vote - and when your guy loses complain that the winner is doing a sucky job and the country is worse for it - UNLESS - you are doing things in your power to turn it around (besides that cheesey bumper sticker).
By my newly set voting standards - I cannot vote (unless you count donations of items and clothing to goodwill and hundreds of dollars donated to the United Way). I'm fine with that. However - people ho donate - even finacially - to non-profit organizations dedicated to helping this country and its people -- THEY have the right to vote!
Not just money. Some people can't afford it. But time. Work. Serve at a soup kitchen. Wash the dishes. Help at the special olimpics (its fun too!). Adopt a highway. Get a job - work for the city (they pay well too!).
People who donate their time or their money in an effort to make lives better - THEY have a more grounded understanding of whats going on in this country. They have initiative to do something about it. They should be allowed to vote.
Most especially - those who dedicate their lives to this country: Our soldiers, our policemenm the teachers who don't leave when the ending bell sounds but mentor - THEY deserve to be heard. Those who volunteer their lives - our volunteer firefighters for example - I would feel better knowing their thoughts counted.
No age limit. a 12 year old serving in a food kitchen should have the right. An unemployed man who spends hours a week transporting materials to shelters should have the right. A homeless woman who cleans up the streets should have that right.
BUT these people who think "This country owes them" - who sit and soak up their welfare because they popped out litters of children who will do the same ... who can't work (or simply don't), don't pay taxes - but collect our OUR hard earned money .... the ONLY grounds I will feel comfortable letting them vote or make any kind of decision is if I KNOW they are doing what they can to improve this country.
SO my thought on the voting laws -
Prove your community service annually. It can lapse - but don't vote without current proof. Be reciept of signature of the head of the organization you helped - or of a police officer who saw what you've done. If you work for this government - you're in. If you dedicated you LIFE ... soldiers esp ... then after your service has ended your voting right is secure.
I believe that will still keep diverse parties - checks and balances - but it will also prevent the greedy and lazy to continue to be so. It will also, as a whole, encourage this country to be greater in the details and therefore greater as a whole.
- Rant by Spott
I figured out how to simply fix this country!!
Bear with me - some of you will know me as the type to propose ideas like "Remove reproductive organs of the unworthy parent" and similar ... this one is not so radical (but just as unlikely).
Change the voting laws ... i.e. who can vote.
As of this moment - anyone over the age of 17 that is a legal citizen of the United States and not so lazy to NOT register can VOTE. This is cruel and wrong. You don't even have to be alive! The great city of Chicago has had the dead voting for decades.
I'm not mean enough to state that only taxpayers should vote. Bottom line: There are some people who do not work, who cannot work, or who really do deserve their welfare (like an 18 year old on dialisis) that should still have the right to vote for whom they feel is fit to make their big decisions for the country. My solution is SO simple - it's frightening.
Service. Thats it. All you have to be able to do is, every year, demonstrate that you are doing something to make this country greater. Paying taxes doesn't count. Don't just vote - and when your guy loses complain that the winner is doing a sucky job and the country is worse for it - UNLESS - you are doing things in your power to turn it around (besides that cheesey bumper sticker).
By my newly set voting standards - I cannot vote (unless you count donations of items and clothing to goodwill and hundreds of dollars donated to the United Way). I'm fine with that. However - people ho donate - even finacially - to non-profit organizations dedicated to helping this country and its people -- THEY have the right to vote!
Not just money. Some people can't afford it. But time. Work. Serve at a soup kitchen. Wash the dishes. Help at the special olimpics (its fun too!). Adopt a highway. Get a job - work for the city (they pay well too!).
People who donate their time or their money in an effort to make lives better - THEY have a more grounded understanding of whats going on in this country. They have initiative to do something about it. They should be allowed to vote.
Most especially - those who dedicate their lives to this country: Our soldiers, our policemenm the teachers who don't leave when the ending bell sounds but mentor - THEY deserve to be heard. Those who volunteer their lives - our volunteer firefighters for example - I would feel better knowing their thoughts counted.
No age limit. a 12 year old serving in a food kitchen should have the right. An unemployed man who spends hours a week transporting materials to shelters should have the right. A homeless woman who cleans up the streets should have that right.
BUT these people who think "This country owes them" - who sit and soak up their welfare because they popped out litters of children who will do the same ... who can't work (or simply don't), don't pay taxes - but collect our OUR hard earned money .... the ONLY grounds I will feel comfortable letting them vote or make any kind of decision is if I KNOW they are doing what they can to improve this country.
SO my thought on the voting laws -
Prove your community service annually. It can lapse - but don't vote without current proof. Be reciept of signature of the head of the organization you helped - or of a police officer who saw what you've done. If you work for this government - you're in. If you dedicated you LIFE ... soldiers esp ... then after your service has ended your voting right is secure.
I believe that will still keep diverse parties - checks and balances - but it will also prevent the greedy and lazy to continue to be so. It will also, as a whole, encourage this country to be greater in the details and therefore greater as a whole.
- Rant by Spott
if there is no age limit, at least have a "competency exam". young people are often too influenced by their families, whether in a positive or negative way. they need to prove themselves independent thinkers.
in my opinion, paying taxes should be enough. anything that benefits the government and/or the community should count as your "service". that way anyone who gives the government a big chunk of their paycheck should have the power to influence what happens with their money.
anyway...
♥