The Sanity Platform

[Scout26]

Service =/= MI.

Remember in the book, the girl (Carmen Ibanez) became a Pilot and their other friend ended doing intelligence work (Been a long time since I read the book, so I disremember.)

Anyway, it all counts as service.   From Wikipedia:

The overall theme of the book is that social responsibility requires being prepared to make individual sacrifice. Heinlein's Terran Federation is a limited democracy, with aspects of a meritocracy in regard to full citizenship, based on voluntarily assuming a responsibility for the common weal. Suffrage can only be earned by those willing to serve their society by at least two years of volunteer Federal Service – "the franchise is today limited to discharged veterans", (ch. XII), instead of, as Heinlein would later note, anyone "...who is 18 years old and has a body temperature near 37 °C"[16] The Federation is required to find a place for anyone who desires to serve, regardless of his skill or aptitude (this also includes service ranging from teaching to dangerous non-military work such as serving as experimental medical test subjects to military service -- such as Rico's Mobile Infantry).

There is an explicit contrast to the "democracies of the 20th century", which according to the novel, collapsed because "people had been led to believe that they could simply vote for whatever they wanted... and get it, without toil, without sweat, without tears."

[makattak]

Service and testing requirements for voting have good intentions but are likely bad ideas.

As with any such rules, imagine the worst possible person in charge of said rule.

Like the founders, we should make rules that are fairly robust to bad actors (tyranny, of course would outright ignore the rules) and not dependent on always having good, honorable persons in office.

(Obviously they weren't perfect given FDR's example of ignoring precedent and the plain language of the constitution. However, I would say it still qualifies as "fairly robust" given how long it took to get to that point.)

[kgbsquirrel]

Why is this a permanent ban?  (and a single felony on your list was not)  There should be a path to redemption for anybody who is not incarcerated at the time.

Those in positions of extreme trust and power should be held to far higher standards. Also for minor f-ups in the military it isn't an automatic Dishonorable discharge. You have to do something rather grievous to warrant it.

I was just trying to think WTF Stephen Hawking would be able to do in the MI.

I would argue that teaching is a public service. Professor Hawking would have earned his franchise many times over.


Sorry I bounced earlier, had a Marine B-Day even to attend. As I have to get to sleep for work tomorrow I'll try to assemble all the ideas and such into a single post for further tweaking/critiquing.

[Strings]

>Also for minor f-ups in the military it isn't an automatic Dishonorable discharge. You have to do something rather grievous to warrant it. <

Not quite true (or wasn't when I was in). Know of at least one person who was given a Dis for "refusing alcohol treatment", after being jerked around with it for a few weeks...

I would simply limit the franchise to anyone who is paying taxes. I'm actually ok with a federal income tax, so long as the feds are milited to only utilizing their actual constitutional authority. At that point, a small fed income tax would be sustainable. Attach the franchise to that.

Keeps the "welfare queens" and professional criminals out of the polls

[Fitz]

We'd be screwed totally if the electorate was dominated by your average enlisted soldier

[Ron]

Anyone advocating sanity or a sane platform for governance would be soundly trounced on election day.

Illusion, delusion and distraction are the order of the day.

Any sane platform would require dealing with reality and hard truths.

As long as the masses are housed, fed and entertained there will be no sanity. 

[Boomhauer]

We'd be screwed totally if the electorate was dominated by your average enlisted soldier

Free beer and titties.would be the only campaign issues.

[zxcvbob]

Free beer and titties.would be the only campaign issues.

Who's payin' for them titties?  

[MillCreek]

You better not be taking from my paycheck to pay for free titties for some 47 percenter, I'll tell you what!

[Perd Hapley]

Free beer and [ahem, chicks] would be the only campaign issues.

Compared to the majority that's currently deciding our elections, I'm not seeing a downside.

[RoadKingLarry]

Who's payin' for them titties?  

In San Francisco it could be the tax payers.

[BlueStarLizzard]

Who's payin' for them titties?  

Appeal to the female campaigner. If they'll flash for beads at Mardes Gras, think of what they'd do for a CAUSE.