I would first like to point out that you completely ignored me wiping the floor with you when you tried to get all high and mighty earlier, and you're trying to do it once more here. I'll have to do it all over again, won't I?
someone shouldn't have to know that tbh. what difference does it make, if they want to vote for someone they have the right to do that - and tbh do you really think a "test" is necessary to communicate stuff like that? how about just a sign/writing that basic stuff on the voting form? there's no need to patronize the population by making them take a test "can congress make laws? lolz i r smart".
It
is necessary when the general public doesn't know that truth. It shows how stupid we are as a country when we don't even know basic truths about how our government is run. What better way to teach people about our government then make it mandatory for them to remember it? How do we do that? Make them pass the test before they can vote.
wow, more elitist bullshit. a lot of opinions are from other people, whether the opinion be from the guys you work with or karl marx's book, discussing and listening to toher people is a valid way or forming an opinion. just because someone doesn't have access to books/info on certain issues, or prefers to listen to someone they trust or whatever doesn't mean they should be ineligible from voting. i'm gonna go out on a limb and say that a lot of people's opinions are based on others - not necessarily the "best" way to form an opinion, but that's the way it works, and there's little sense in trying to oppress people and force them to research every issue before voting.
Yeah, pay attention. I said that you should know the basics of government, not believe a certain way. Fucking read, then come back to me.
Also, this isn't some insider knowledge that I'm trying to trick people with here. This information is taught in what, 5th grade Social Studies? Then again in 9th grade Civics? If you can't remember it and fail the test, here's a solution. Fucking stop being an idiot and crack open an elementary textbook. It's all there for you.
while i agree that voters ideally would have an understanding of these basics, you're living in a fantasy world - evidently not everyone knows or cares if we have a bicameral legislature etc, hell i didn't know what that meant until i studied it at uni. i was still capable of forming an intelligent opinion on basic topics such as immigration and stuff, and therefore should probably be considered "appropriate" by someone like you to vote.
Not at all. You need to have a basic understanding of our government is run, or you don't know the implications of your vote. If you don't know that the President can't just declare war on whomever he wants, then vote for the President who claims he'll do just that, you're voting for a law-breaker. A treasonous law breaker at that.
if one party is saying "i think we should shut our borders 100%" whilst another party is saying "we should allow assylum seekers and skilled workers in", you don't need to know about the constitution and parliament etc to know who you agree with. what's so difficutl to udnerstand about that?
Yes, you do. You need to know if Congress can even make that distinction. In this case, they can. But if we as a whole didn't know that, and just allowed Congress to make that distinction without telling us or allowing us to vote (if necessary), then we're allowing them to trample on our rights. Then, when we vote for re-election, we don't know that we should be sending the people who violated our rights out of office. We assume they did a fantastic job.
Such as when Congress passed the PATRIOT Act after 9/11. It was a huge violation of our civil liberties as a nation. If you didn't know that Congress couldn't vote for increased surveillance and other breaches in personal privacy, you'd assume that the Act was legal. Get my point?
I'm 19, and studying to be a Biological Engineer at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. I am no kid. In fact, in 10 years I'll be developing a procedure to grow you fucking replacement organs. Don't even begin to patronize me.
who learnt a bit about goverment and politics
What? That the Congress and pass laws and the President can't? Or that we have basic human rights, as outlined in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights? I learned that in fucking 5th grade, if that late. I didn't go researching and find this in some back corner of the library.
and now feels superior to all the "******s"
I still don't know where this "******s" is coming from. If you want to call people who don't know their basic civil liberties ******ed, go right on ahead. I never called them that.
and has lost touch with what politics means to the masses tbh.
I argue that if you don't know your basic legal rights, then your vote isn't really a vote at all. It's just a blind tally on a sheet that the pundits managed to rope in for their side. You could very well be voting for legislation that undermines your rights and the Constitution, and not even know it because you don't know the basics of government.
Then again, I've "lost touch." Sure. Keep telling yourself that.