I don't mean those genuinely on benefits due to disability or illness, but the long-term unemployed who simply do not want to work. Should they be denied the vote? If they are not contributing to society, then why should they be given a say in how society is run?
2007-11-23 03:35:02 · 56 answers · asked by slıɐuǝoʇ 6 in Politics & Government ➔ Elections
This is an interesting question that raises other questions.
1.) For example should the ill informed be allowed to vote?
If someone is not fully informed on political and social issues or particular candidate's records, should he or she be allowed to cast an uninformed vote, whether they pay taxes or not?
2.) Should someone who is working and paying taxes, but does nothing to serve their country in some capacity (military service, public service, volunteer work, civic service, etc.) be allowed to vote?
3.) Should an 18 year old be allowed to vote? They may not have contributed much to society at that age. Should the voting age be raised to say 21 or higher?
I think your question is a valid and fair question, but for me it raises the general question as to what qualifications one should have in order to have the right to vote, and who should be in charge of making that determination regarding a person's right to vote.
I tend to fear any attempt to take away anyone's right to vote who is a citizen and meets the qualifications for being able to vote. My fear is that if we start denying people the right to vote, who currently have the right to vote, we will start down that slippery slope of taking the right away from others for any number of reasons (race, gender, political affiliation, etc.).
I don't think any system is perfect, and perhaps improvements can be made to make a system more
efficient, fair, etc., but taking away the right to vote from those who are qualified under law to do so is a potentially dangerous precedent that should not be set.
2007-11-23 04:05:45 · answer #1 · answered by Seldom Seen 4 · 6⤊ 1⤋
I'll answer, but first I need to know what you mean by those "long-term unemployed who simply do not want to work." Stay-at-Home Moms & Dads? Those who choose to live in the woods and not participate in the daily 9-to-5 grind? Seriously, who made you judge and jury?
If you're a citizen here, I think voting is an unalienable right regardless of the WAY you choose to live in our society... and how one "contributes" is up to wide interpretation.
2007-11-23 03:45:43 · answer #2 · answered by Sangria 4 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Some people are on benefits because they just can't be @rsed to work, some (me) because I can't find work and the Jobcentre are no help (that never gets mentioned EVER). Why deny the people who do want to work an opinion everyone has to live in this country, plus those people you want to deny may be the people voting for the same party as you. DO YOU WANT TO LOSE THOSE VOTES?
2007-11-23 03:47:54 · answer #3 · answered by truth_and_time_tells_all 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Not really, because how can you prove that they don't want to work? There must be over million people in your country who are like that so you can just imagine the logistics of tracking these people down and proving what you're proposing. Also, they may not be "contributing to society," but they could have a passion for politics, economics, sociology, etc, etc, that could help them decide who to vote for.
2007-11-23 03:47:51 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
No, would you then deny the right to vote to students and retired people? Seriously what you are saying makes no sense. There is no connection between having a job and the right to vote. And since you can only collect unemployment payments for six months, who are these people collecting long-term benefits?
2007-11-23 03:40:47 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋
Mmmmm some of the bums that cant b arsed wrking or trying, however we have to think about people that are on benefits for illnesses etc, but saying that the lazy ones that just love arsing about all day with the shell suit and the *** hanging out their gub they prob dont wanna vote anyway.
2007-11-23 03:50:56 · answer #6 · answered by Mark A 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Where have you been for the last fifteen years? Welfare was reformed during the Clinton administration. Able bodied people are now required to find work or lose their benefits.
Republicans have been unconstitutionally trying to deny the vote to minorities, the poor, and just about anybody that disagrees with them. Thank God for protections of the Constitution.
2007-11-23 03:57:55 · answer #7 · answered by wyldfyr 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
If you took away the voting right of all the people that don't want to work, the Democrats wouldn't have a chance of winning anything!
The Democrats covet the votes of the lazy, and degenerates of America. And no, I'm not saying that all Democrats are either lazy, and/or degenerate. But, I am saying that the Democrats count on those people to get elected.
2007-11-23 04:02:41 · answer #8 · answered by truthsayer 6 · 0⤊ 2⤋
No...Whilst I hear what you are saying,the vote has a symbolic importance as an expression of the ideal of persons as free and equal...Voting is a right not a privilege,regardless of what we may think of some individuals.
2007-11-23 04:29:31 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
well no because as you stated yourself these people do not contribute to society at all, to make what may seem as a sweeping statement these people probably dont want to vote anyway I have first hand experience with people like this through work, they dont really care about society and politics so if the right to vote was taken away they wouldn't miss it- how can you miss something you dont have?!
2007-11-23 03:42:59 · answer #10 · answered by Shoe Gal 2 · 2⤊ 2⤋