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Suppose, a litre of cola costs US$3.15. If you buy one third of a litre of cola, how much would you pay?
The above may seem like a rather basic question. Something that you would perhaps expect the vast majority of adults to be able to answer? Particularly if they are allowed to use a calculator.
Unfortunately, the reality is that a large number of adults across the world struggle with even such basic financial tasks (the correct answer is US$1.05, by the way).
[...] In many other countries, the situation is even worse. Four in every ten adults in places like England, Canada, Spain and the US can't make this straightforward calculation – even when they had a calculator to hand. Similarly, less than half of adults in places like Chile, Turkey and South Korea can get the right answer.
-- submitted from IRC
High number of adults unable to do basic mathematical tasks
(Score: 4, Insightful) by fyngyrz on Friday March 16 2018, @12:48AM (13 children)
The problem, historically speaking, is that means to triage the voters tend to be misused for disenfranchising people for reasons other than their actual competence.
A lot of people think that's a worse problem than some poorly reasoned votes.
Although considering congress, the executive and the judiciary selected by those two today, perhaps they'd want to re-think that. :/
Can you imagine the screaming if there was a qualification test for voting? O boy.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by bob_super on Friday March 16 2018, @12:58AM (12 children)
Simple solution: People come to vote, and at the top of the ballot, there are 5 random questions taken from the 100 in the booklet that foreigners applying for US citizenship have to learn. Those are very basic questions about the functions of government, and rights.
Answer at least three questions correctly (4?), your vote gets counted.
(Score: 0, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 16 2018, @01:34AM (2 children)
I think those questions are far too easy. They also have a bit of a leftist bias, particularly regarding choice of topics. Still, it'd be better than nothing.
A nice question to ask would be about a statement similar to: "A well balanced breakfast being necessary to the start of a healthy day, the right of the people to keep and eat food shall not be infringed." (Who gets to keep and eat food, the people or the well balanced breakfast?)
Another good thing to ask about would be if people have the right to picket funerals with signs that say "GOD HATES FAGS". Our supreme court has ruled on exactly that.
We could also ask if it is OK to give a ride to an illegal alien. (FYI: Title 8, U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(A)(ii) and Title 8, U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(B)(ii) will give you 5 years in prison)
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 16 2018, @06:39AM (1 child)
As in, yes, they are about the Constitution. Amazing that the Constitution has become a Liberal Document. Of course, it always was. Those against it were Loyalists, or more apropos the Americans, traitors, or Canadians. But let's just cut to the chase and admit that the alt-right, the Old-right, the Republican Ronnie Right, all of these are in opposition to the United States Constitution. This is why they oppose the ACLU, why they are opposed to non-whites voting, this is why they are stupid and deplorable, just like the TMB, with no clue about how badly they are being used by corporate America.
If you are asking, my Uber queue is full, but I might be able to fit you in on Saturday, no questions asked, because "on a computer, or mobile phone network" negates all US Code, right? Unless you are a fucking Republican. I reserve the right to deny service to all Republican, and their libertarian hangers-on, because to do business with them would go against my religious beliefs. I mean, I am not a Ferengi!!!
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 16 2018, @09:08AM
There is the lie that we have a capitalist/market economy. (note: your local ISP monopoly, rent control, welfare)
There is the implication that we have "rule of law" ("Everyone Must Follow The Law","Leaders Must Obey The Law","Government Must Obey The Law","No One Is Above The Law") which Hillary Clinton demonstrates to be false.
The question "Who does a U.S. Senator represent?" is a hoot. Seriously, "All People Of The State" is the supposed answer. Actually, they represent entities like AARP and Google and the National Association of Realtors.
They ask for a power of the federal government. They left out immigration control.
They ask about a state governor and capital, which is silly.
An answer states that becoming a citizen makes you promise to "Give Up Loyalty To Other Countries", yet we tolerate dual citizenship.
There is a bunch of pointless memorization. Knowing the exact date of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, or being able to list all 13 original states, or the exact location of the Statue of Liberty, is diluting the question pool with fluff.
It is incorrectly states that Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves with the emancipation proclamation. No, he only freed slaves in states that refused to stay in the union.
There is some junk about Susan B. Anthony, some chick who made America wimpy.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 16 2018, @05:53AM (2 children)
Maybe some maths questions too and some general history, make it multiple choice it's the USA after all.
And maybe rather than simply selecting whether the vote counts, the answers should decide the weight of the vote. (maybe indeed down to zero)
(Score: 3, Interesting) by maxwell demon on Friday March 16 2018, @06:43AM (1 child)
But then, surely many people will think the final vote "Who should become president of the United States" is also part of the test, and they must cross the "correct" option to pass, even if they think differently. And if there are enough of those, they may well change the outcome.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by deimtee on Friday March 16 2018, @10:51AM
You definitely need a none-of-the-above option.
If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by legont on Friday March 16 2018, @05:14PM (5 children)
We simply need "against all" option and if it gets the majority all the participants should be banned from holding an office for life.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Friday March 16 2018, @05:30PM (4 children)
That wasn't the point being addressed.
It's also a great way to end up without a government for a really long time.
(Score: 1, Flamebait) by legont on Friday March 16 2018, @05:51PM (1 child)
I beg to differ. it's the best way to drain the swamp for good and get real representatives of The People elected.
As per your point, let me spell it out for you. You believe that certain, probably liberal, people are smart and the rest of the People are stupid. Well, you are wrong.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Friday March 16 2018, @06:05PM
> As per your point, let me spell it out for you. You believe that certain, probably liberal, people are smart and the rest of the People are stupid. Well, you are wrong.
How does "Maybe the people casting a vote could be held to the same standard of knowing the civic system as the foreign people applying for citizenship" translate to liberal elitism?
We ask people to get licenses to practice medicine or fly a plane, but knowing how the government works is totally unnecessary when you chose your congressman.
That was an impressively moronic comment...
(Score: 2) by Justin Case on Friday March 16 2018, @06:52PM (1 child)
That's a feature, not a bug.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Friday March 16 2018, @07:09PM
Too bad nobody deserves a reward for predicting obvious shortsighted replies.
Have you considered the devastation that not having the federal government would wreck on the economy? Not talking about roaming bands of gunmen, but but the simpler collapse of almost every company related to financial, military, agro, bio, construction, you-name-it sectors.