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Should Voting be a Right or a Privilege?

Is Voting a Right or Privilege?

  • Total voters
    35
repeter said:
Your level of paranoia is ridiculous, and unfounded. I know you'll have a lot to say to the contrary, but its unfounded.
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But James has a point, if the people do not participate, a government can go corrupt, this has happened before - on a local level
 
LuckyDan said:
It should be, and is, a privilege, in the sense that you have to register to vote and you may be legally denied the opportunity to vote if you are convicted of a felony.
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I like North Dakota's system. We do not have to register to vote.
 
TurtleDude said:
your claims have no merit

those who are more useful to society have a strong argument for better treatment
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They already have better treatment in our system of economics, better than they deserve, as a matter of fact. And certainly inheritors of wealth have no such claim at all. All of your arguments on this and related matters are so skewed and one sided they are comical.
 
The wealthy are rewarded as apt servants of the people, through wealth granted for services rendered. It is more than enough. They are not our lords.
 
yikes, I'm going to get in trouble here, first I think it should be a right … but I sometime thinks that there should be some sort of test …. I mean when you watch Leno, or Letterman go out and hold of a pic of Nancy Pelosi and ask people if they know this person, and 4 out of 10 don't … kind of makes you wonder if you really want people like that helping to decide an election.
 
Voting is and always should be a right of any citizen. I don't even agree that felons should not be allowed to vote. Yeah, they did wrong but that doesn't change the fact that they are citizens that are effected by things that are voted on. The whole point of voting is to be able to have a say in how society acts towards and treats you.
 
Dezaad said:
The wealthy are rewarded as apt servants of the people, through wealth granted for services rendered. It is more than enough. They are not our lords.
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Very true. But that does not stop them from wanting to be.
 
Voting is a right. Having your vote actually mean something is a privilege.

For example, I vote to have naked women in my bedroom 24-7.

That vote means nothing, however.
 
No, it should be a right. I think the problems most people see in voting being a right rather than a privilege are better solved by cracking down on misrepresentations in campaigning. We have organizations to monitor spin and fraud in the proxy voting process. I think it is very odd that we don't have the same sort of protection against spin and fraud in the national election process.
 
repeter said:
Straight forward question.

I think it should be a privilege because of its importance in our government. While I don't agree with a poll tax, or something like that, I think we need to tie voting to education. I would suggest that we require a high school diploma, or an equivalent GED (or a naturalized citizen, something similar from their home country if necessary), and remove the mandate that we have to go to high school.

This ties into the other problem I see: a lot of people don't value education enough. In my school, and other schools I've been to, most students waste time, which could be used to help the students who actually want to learn.

What do you think?

EDIT: Question shold be "Should Voting be a Right or a Privilege?
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I've considered and debated this issue at times. I'll admit that sometimes I've thought that a Heinlein-esqe Starship Troopers requirement to serve in the military or similar capacity (as a prereq for franchise) might be a good idea.

But ultimately it is a question of power and responsibility. If you are a citizen of this nation, and thus ruled by our government and laws, then you should have a say in that government and those laws if you wish.

Other than proving your are a citizen, I don't think restricting voting rights would be a good idea. If you don't care and want to sit home and watch the ballgame, go ahead... I prefer that the indifferent don't vote anyway.
 
So alot of people on this forum have said things that make alot of sense, except for the people who believe it should be a right!! As many people have said on this forum that there should be an education required to make an informed and educated decision on who they should vote on.
 
repeter said:
Straight forward question.

I think it should be a privilege because of its importance in our government. While I don't agree with a poll tax, or something like that, I think we need to tie voting to education. I would suggest that we require a high school diploma, or an equivalent GED (or a naturalized citizen, something similar from their home country if necessary), and remove the mandate that we have to go to high school.

This ties into the other problem I see: a lot of people don't value education enough. In my school, and other schools I've been to, most students waste time, which could be used to help the students who actually want to learn.

What do you think?

EDIT: Question shold be "Should Voting be a Right or a Privilege?
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If people are subject to the laws of a government, they have the right to be involved in the policies of the government. That was why our Founding Fathers led a revolution against the British Empire.

Also, I don't think that we should let only the educated vote. Rather, I think we should focus more on helping voters get better educated.
 
repeter said:
Straight forward question.

I think it should be a privilege because of its importance in our government. While I don't agree with a poll tax, or something like that, I think we need to tie voting to education. I would suggest that we require a high school diploma, or an equivalent GED (or a naturalized citizen, something similar from their home country if necessary), and remove the mandate that we have to go to high school.

This ties into the other problem I see: a lot of people don't value education enough. In my school, and other schools I've been to, most students waste time, which could be used to help the students who actually want to learn.

What do you think?

EDIT: Question shold be "Should Voting be a Right or a Privilege?
Click to expand...

I think the REAL question is whether voting should be considered a responsibility or a duty of a citizen. It is certainly considered a responsibility- something all citizens are encouraged to do but not required to do. Jury service, on the other hand, is considered a duty of every citizen and is mandated (though with certain exceptions).

It is not a privilege in any way, shape, or form. Being born in a free country, however, is a privilege of birth. But the natural (or universal) right to vote is not, and should not, ever be considered a privilege.

I personally believe it should remain a responsibility of every citizen, but not their duty. It must not be mandated. Like religion, we (as citizens) have the right to vote and the right not to vote.
 
One last point I'd like to make.

I am not the kind of person who will go out on election day (and the week prior), and attempt to get everyone to vote just for the sake of voting. I think informed citizens should be encouraged to vote and ignorant citizens should be encouraged to stay at home. This, of course, does not mean I wish to restrict the rights of all to vote. I haven't yet considered the "right" of convicted felons to vote. That is possibly a really good debate to start.

COMING SOON!! (I have to work now, so another poster may beat me to it).
 
Dezaad said:
They already have better treatment in our system of economics, better than they deserve, as a matter of fact. And certainly inheritors of wealth have no such claim at all. All of your arguments on this and related matters are so skewed and one sided they are comical.
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that's based on what they can afford in the private sector-not due to being rewarded by the goverment for shouldering far more of the tax burden (mainly because they are industrious) than others.
What is comical are libs like you who think people are rich due to some sort of beneficial special treatment by the government==a fiction you all spin to justify making the rich payer higher taxes
 
TurtleDude said:
that's based on what they can afford in the private sector-not due to being rewarded by the goverment for shouldering far more of the tax burden (mainly because they are industrious) than others.
What is comical are libs like you who think people are rich due to some sort of beneficial special treatment by the government==a fiction you all spin to justify making the rich payer higher taxes
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Oh, but they do. Benefit from the government, that is. Property and other laws establish a system whereby they are permitted to enrich themselves. There is no economic system devised where everyone can be wealthy. The best economic system known is one where private ownership is permitted, and a relatively few are permitted to accumulate more than others. But, alas, one of the unfortunate side effects of such a system is that the people who do accumulate such wealth begin to imagine themselves as being actually deserving of what they have been kindly allowed to acquire and keep.

We permit their imaginings because it benefits us, the middle class. They are the means by which we attain maximum prosperity, or close to it. But do not delude yourself into thinking that we we would go long allowing the wealthy to be too greedy. Such delusions lead to the diminishment of us all. We would all prefer for that not to happen.

Remember your place. I have faith that we will certainly remember ours.
 
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repeter said:
Straight forward question.

I think it should be a privilege because of its importance in our government. While I don't agree with a poll tax, or something like that, I think we need to tie voting to education. I would suggest that we require a high school diploma, or an equivalent GED (or a naturalized citizen, something similar from their home country if necessary), and remove the mandate that we have to go to high school.

This ties into the other problem I see: a lot of people don't value education enough. In my school, and other schools I've been to, most students waste time, which could be used to help the students who actually want to learn.

What do you think?

EDIT: Question shold be "Should Voting be a Right or a Privilege?
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It's a right.

Just because something is a right doesn't mean it can't be regulated, controlled or monitored - or withheld completely.
 
Dezaad said:
Oh, but they do. Benefit from the government, that is. Property and other laws establish a system whereby they are permitted to enrich themselves. There is no economic system devised where everyone can be wealthy. The best economic system known is one where private ownership is permitted, and a relatively few are permitted to accumulate more than others. But, alas, one of the unfortunate side effects of such a system is that the people who do accumulate such wealth begin to imagine themselves as being actually deserving of what they have been kindly allowed to acquire and keep.

We permit their imaginings because it benefits us, the middle class. They are the means by which we attain maximum prosperity, or close to it. But do not delude yourself into thinking that we we would go long allowing the wealthy to be too greedy. Such delusions lead to the diminishment of us all. We would all prefer for that not to happen.

Remember your place. I have faith that we will certainly remember ours.
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socialist drivel-winners win, losers lose under most forms of government. Those in the middle really don't have the power you think they do.
 
SheWolf said:
I don't understand these debates between Right or a Privilege... since rights are nothing more than social constructs
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You are right in the overall sense. There are no inate rights. (Not even to be fed by our mothers at birth.)

However, this is a question to posters here in the USA.. where voting IS a right in OUR 'social construct'/country.
 
mbig said:
You are right in the overall sense. There are no inate rights. (Not even to be fed by our mothers at birth.)

However, this is a question to posters here in the USA.. where voting IS a right in OUR 'social construct'/country.
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Yes - it's limited and can be withheld altogether - according to our social construct.
 
TurtleDude said:
socialist drivel-winners win, losers lose under most forms of government. Those in the middle really don't have the power you think they do.
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The middle class and the poor do have power when we remember to exercise it properly. Sometimes we get reminded to do so, by the unfolding of events. The middle class wins just fine under mixed economies. We win best when we remember our power and exercise it. And, when we remember the proper role of the wealthy.

The wealthy exist so that the middle class can prosper. They often don't think that's the reason we let them acquire, but that is the only reason we would do so, after all.
 
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If voting were a privilege, then only the privileged could vote. Voting is a right... and in my opinion, the duty of every citizen. (That doesn't mean that I favor mandatory voting ala Australia. I don't. I just don't understand those who are apathetic about casting their votes, when there are billions of people on this planet that would give everything for the opportunity to do just that.)
 
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DiAnna said:
If voting were a privilege, then only the privileged could vote. Voting is a right... and in my opinion, the duty of every citizen. (That doesn't mean that I favor mandatory voting ala Australia. I don't. I just don't understand those who are apathetic about casting their votes, when there are billions of people on this planet that would give everything for the opportunity to do just that.)
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I would only elaborate upon this to say that every citizen in good standing absolutely does have the right to exercise their self sovereignty by participation in the making of the law through voting. The only reason to rescind the right is when people do not respect the laws so made, in an egregious enough manner.

That said it is a responsibility to do so intelligently.
 
Citizens of age and in good standing have no obligation to submit to laws they have an egregiously unequal say in creating or changing. So, while I suppose it could be considered less than a right, the point is moot. We can't expect an orderly society without a just franchise. We might have an orderly society, for a time, but we have no justification to expect it.
 
Dezaad said:
I would only elaborate upon this to say that every citizen in good standing absolutely does have the right to exercise their self sovereignty by participation in the making of the law through voting. The only reason to rescind the right is when people do not respect the laws so made, in an egregious enough manner.

That said it is a responsibility to do so intelligently.
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I do agree that rights can be rescinded when one's behavior violates societies laws in an egregious enough manner. In other words, convicted felons in prison have forfeited many rights, including the right to vote.

Yes, I would prefer voters exercise their right to vote intelligently. However, we cannot insist upon this, because then we would have to test the intelligence of potential voters and as we can see by the extremist views from both sides on this forum, it's a test many would fail! :mrgreen:
 
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