soot
DP Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 3, 2013
- Messages
- 4,308
- Reaction score
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- Gender
- Male
- Political Leaning
- Independent
Ironically some of the greatest people that this country has had barely had a high school diploma. A piece of paper from some college doesn't make one unqualified for voting. Neither does owning a piece of land.
Fair enough. And I'm willing to leave room for these exceptional Americans.
If they develop a new school of thought in psychology, or if they found a multibillion dollar, multinational business, or if they're celebrated far and wide for their exceptionally selfless volunteerism and/or efforts to create social harmony and justice, then sign them up to vote, by God!!!
But let's not pretend that these people are anything other than some very, very small minority.
The vast majority of Americans who never get a high school diploma, spend their entire life working menial jobs and renting, and fall completely into the social safety net upon retirement aren't America's best and brightest by ANY means.
They're just a pack of also rans who, in almost all cases, don't even know what Congressional district they live in.
Dollars to donuts people that say this crap are not poor and doesn't even know what its like to be poor.
I was born to an alcoholic father, raised on disability payments and government cheese, and overcame a learning disability to do everything I listed except own a business, which isn't to say I never will.
I'm not privileged, I'm not gifted, and I don't have exceptional talents.
If I can work my way through night school on GI Bill money then so can 85% of the people who fall into the same socioeconomic hole I was born into.
And believe me, I know as well as anyone that it is a deep, dark hole.
But it's not a bottomless pit by any means.
And to preempt any mention of it, yeah, I know that there are people who just don't pack the goods to crawl out of the hole.
I'm sure they're sweet, wonderful people, but we don't need them voting.