.. wrote:

my point (amused, I'll accept "dorothy" and click my red slippers) -

Oh, is that not your name? I thought Dot was always the short form.


is that "property" is not a good test of involvement in the economy -
the paying of federal taxes is a proper indicator of having earned
the right to vote.

Not even that. People voted before the income tax existed, during which
time the government never entered most people's minds when they made any
transaction. Lots of self-sufficient people have voted too.

The current resrictions (some of which I am probably not aware of) are
enough. The only restriction that would result in better electoral results
would be intelligence-oriented, such as poll tests, but they can be abused.

As I said, one single improvement in education that would help a lot would
be teaching that democracy is not a goal (as "Rock the Vote" and other
slogans suggest) but a means to a goal, which is freedom.

I was in a college and saw a stack of textbooks awaiting distribution, and
the subtitle was "Balancing Freedom and Democracy" as if they are both goals
that need to be compromised when they're in conflict. When slavery is
popular you shouldn't compromise freedom one bit for the sake of democracy.

People have to be taught differently. If we don't improve the process in a
way that results in voters making better decisions, then they will
inevitably make fewer decisions, as this author recommends:

http://www.amazon.com/Future-Freedom...2697934&sr=8-1

"Zakaria contends that something has also gone wrong with democracy in
America, which has descended into "a simple-minded populism that values
popularity and openness." The solution, Zakaria says, is more appointed
bodies, like the World Trade Organization and the U.S. Supreme Court, which
are effective precisely because they are insulated from political
pressures."

He seems to understand the problem, as in:

"...the United States should...take care to remake Afghanistan and Iraq into
societies that are not merely democratic but free."

But his solution of more power in appointed bodies is pernicious.

The only step in that direction that I would support is the end of primary
elections. Convention delegates used to make much better choices than
voters, who almost always cast out the best people in every primary, and in
some recent cases they chose the very worst. The general election is enough
to retain power in the people's control, but their decision would be
simplified.


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