• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

Should Voting be a Right or a Privilege?

Is Voting a Right or Privilege?


  • Total voters
    35
A right...

being a privilege is anti-democratic and the first step to a dicatorship.
 
It's around, what, 10% of the US population receive whole or partial support? If that's 'an entire voting block' then we're far more ****ed than I thought. :)

A lot of people on various forms of welfare do work - they just don't earn enough money from their employment to cover all the costly expenses of living. YES there is a portion which are generationally-dependent and have no desire to get off of assistance - but yet they still don't make the majority of that 10%.

The most beneficial thing would be to have someone who can actually form and put forward actually legislation, programs and support systems that will CHANGE things - Obama's not that guy, McCain isn't - quite a few aren't.

WE have a lot of problems and *just wanting* them to go away won't actually *make* the problems go away. . .and all other measures done by our government are ineffective bits of bull****.

If that's the case, then why do the Dems call themselves the, "poor man's party"? Must be alotta poor votes to be gotten out there.
 
If that's the case, then why do the Dems call themselves the, "poor man's party"? Must be alotta poor votes to be gotten out there.

By that same standard the Republicans can call their selves 'the Rich Man's party' because the wealthiest tag along with them more often. But I'm not a Democrat or a Liberal so I really can't speak for what they call their selves and for what they claim to believe in.

Look - in all due fairness - if being an active participant towards the betterment of society is the essential key to who gets a vote (as in: poor people don't pay taxes, but rich people do - so the rich people have *done* more for society) - then a lot of rich people shouldn't be voting, either. A lot of accumulated wealth is concurrent - done with very little decision or action. A lot of people cut their overall taxes significantly every year by tax-deductible donations and so forth. Overall - for quite a few 'wealthy' individuals their high income is sauce for the goose and they've done nothing but be born into the right family to 'earn' it.

You can't deny that some 'rich' or 'wealthy' people are just lazy ****s (like my husband's family) - no different than anyone on the lower end of welfare who, also, doesn't work for a living (which is a small % of people on welfare - most welfare recipients are employed).

And the only reason why the rich pay any taxes is because the government FORCES them to through progressive taxation - if taxation wasn't a requirement or coerced then hardly ANYONE would actually fork over their dough willingly.

I wouldn't call it a 'paid for right' when people are forced to cooperate.
 
So I'm outlining a chapter on "Poverty and Wealth" in America (sociology) - I'll quote (Book is: "Social Problems - Auth: Macionis - 4th ED)

Problems Linked to Poverty: Political Alienation
"Given how hard the poor have to struggle to get by, you might expect that they would be politically active and eager to bring about change. Sometimes poor people do organize politically, but many do not even bother to vote. In the 2008 presidential election, about 80 percent of people earning $100,000 or more voted. Just under half of people earning less than $10,000 did the same. This pattern suggests that many poor people feel alienated from a system that they think does not serve their interests.

(*edit: Hatuey, et al: I actually suggest you guys read this book. Sure, it's a college textbook - but the information is solid, statistics are explained and straight to the point and it explores many issues from all sorts of views. It's been recently updated and pertains to very recent events. Lots of good stuff in here and I've only touched on a few chapters so far.)
 
Last edited:
So I'm outlining a chapter on "Poverty and Wealth" in America (sociology) - I'll quote (Book is: "Social Problems - Auth: Macionis - 4th ED)

(*edit: Hatuey, et al: I actually suggest you guys read this book. Sure, it's a college textbook - but the information is solid, statistics are explained and straight to the point and it explores many issues from all sorts of views. It's been recently updated and pertains to very recent events. Lots of good stuff in here and I've only touched on a few chapters so far.)

While I agree that the poor often feel alienated from the political system, I feel it's far more likely that they don't vote because your daily routine is busier the poorer you are. Example a single mother of 2 kids who works a full time job is not likely to give up her domestic and work duties to go vote. The same goes for a man who works for minimum wage to support his family. I don't think the author takes into consideration the amount of work related to actually being poor.
 
While I agree that the poor often feel alienated from the political system, I feel it's far more likely that they don't vote because your daily routine is busier the poorer you are. Example a single mother of 2 kids who works a full time job is not likely to give up her domestic and work duties to go vote. The same goes for a man who works for minimum wage to support his family. I don't think the author takes into consideration the amount of work related to actually being poor.

Excellent point - and I agree. I couldn't vote when I was 21 for exactly those reasons = kids and lack of transportation/daycare.

Apparently - since the 1980's - it has become more commonplace for the average 'poverty line' individual or family-head to work two part time jobs, a full time job or *more* every week (50 weeks of the year) and *still* be under the poverty line. Couple that with stress, lack of transportation, location (like rural areas that are cut off), health issues and so on - and there's a laundry list of understandable reasons for one not to be able, even if they really wanted to, be involved and exercise their right to vote.

I read this and found it interesting, as well:
"Some government programs take from the rich and others give to the poor. But many programs, such as the recent corporate bailouts, benefit wealthier individuals and families. Even among "ordinary" people the tax deduction on home mortgage interest costs the government about $385B annually and most of this benefit goes to affluent people who own larger homes. The home mortgage deduction is worth ten time as much as what the government spends to provide food assistance to low-income people.

That last line there really got me - I knew that the deductions were a significant amount but I did not know it overshadowed food-assistance programs. . . which I find to be really bothersome.
I never approved of the extreme assistance for home-owners/buyers, really - and that just set me further away from agreeing with it.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom