eder@ssc-vax.UUCP (Dani Eder) (12/06/84)
> And no, I don't know of a better way to select the legislative/executive > branch than what we are doing now. Maybe a more intelligent method of > deciding who shall be enfranchised than being "old enough". > > Does anybody have any ideas? > > <mike Ok, here are some. They are not necessarily my personal choices. 1) Votes are proportional to the amount you pay in taxes. If you pay more, you have a greater interest in what is done with the money. This is similar to how corporations are run (votes proportional to shareholdings), and it is crudely approximated by campaign contributions, where those who have lots of money affect legislators more than those who don't. Note that the original Constitution contained something similar, it required Representatives and direct taxes to both be proportional to the census, hence Representatives and direct taxes were to be proportional. 2) Franchise only granted to individuals who participated in national service (military, civilian conservation corps), i.e. you have to earn the privelege of voting by giving part of your life to the nation 3) Only mothers can vote. This is a group of people who have an interest in the future (their children's). We had all-male vote for a long time, could this be worse? A more general version would be: Only parents with children in their household can vote. That should get me some mail. Dani Eder / Boeing Aerospace Company / ssc-vax!eder / (206)773-4545 These aren't even my opinions, let alone my employer's