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CNN reports that when asked how to offset the influence of big money in politics, President Barack Obama suggested it's time to make voting a requirement. "Other countries have mandatory voting," said Obama "It would be transformative if everybody voted -- that would counteract money more than anything," he said, adding it was the first time he had shared the idea publicly.
"The people who tend not to vote are young, they're lower income, they're skewed more heavily towards immigrant groups and minority groups. There's a reason why some folks try to keep them away from the polls."
At least 26 countries have compulsory voting, according to the Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. Failure to vote is punishable by a fine in countries such as Australia and Belgium; if you fail to pay your fine in Belgium, you could go to prison. Less than 37% of eligible voters actually voted in the 2014 midterm elections, according to The Pew Charitable Trusts. That means about 144 million Americans -- more than the population of Russia -- skipped out.
Critics of mandatory voting have questioned the practicality of passing and enforcing such a requirement; others say that freedom also means the freedom not to do something.
(Score: 1, Flamebait) by RobotMonster on Monday March 23 2015, @09:19AM
You're the anarchist who keeps insisting "Infringing upon liberties to save liberties is a dead end", without caveat,
*Finally* you've admitted that you don't think that directly harming others should be included in your freedom.
But you know, keep arguing your "principled stance" without actually explaining your principles...
Your notion of freedom is so broken that talking to you is a waste of time
I was trying to find out what your notion of freedom was, as you kept declaring that you can't "Infringing upon liberties to save liberties". This is a blanket statement that is clearly not correct (and not one you agree with, if you're going to outlaw 'directly' harming others, whatever that might mean.). You're spouting catchphrases that don't actually reflect what you're thinking.
Jesus, you're ridiculously stupid.
You're the fucking moron here, dumb-ass. Talking to you is like talking to an eleven year old.
You mentioned earlier in the thread that you valued critical thinking. You might want to invest in learning how to do it. And actually communicating your point, instead of calling everybody stupid, that would be a small improvement.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 23 2015, @01:45PM
You're the anarchist who keeps insisting "Infringing upon liberties to save liberties is a dead end", without caveat,
Not an anarchist. Straw man.
You mentioned earlier in the thread that you valued critical thinking. You might want to invest in learning how to do it.
I say it is you who needs to learn how to think critically; your straw men and random assumptions are seemingly endless. Furthermore, you resort to pointless pedantry. Because of that, I have no real desire to waste my time explaining my exact positions (which would likely be intentionally misinterpreted anyway), and you've already revealed yourself as an authoritarian anyway.
Here's how a conversation with someone who supports the NSA's mass surveillance sometimes turns out:
Me: We should value freedom over safety.
Them: Aha! You didn't specify *exactly* what freedom means! That must mean you support the freedom to murder! Checkmate, anarchist!
You're resembling them right now. I could pick at many statements you've made in the exact same way, since language isn't always exact or literal.