The youth vote

In this week’s Dyspepsiana, I take up the question of election-rigging. Which got me to thinking . . . .

The principle—that
those subject to the state’s laws ought to be able to shape those laws through
the vote—applies even more compellingly to citizens under 18. Among other sins
the over-18s commit against the next generation, we are soiling the planet they
will have to live in and spending their money by running up the national debt
rather than pay the true costs of the government services – and tax cuts — we
demand.

Clever people have proposed all sorts of remedies. It has
been proposed that we give children a say, of sorts, by allowing parents to
cast, in addition to their own vote, a proxy vote, worth half a vote, for each
dependent child. This arms the breeders against the depredations of old
people, who for decades have voted
for themselves an ever-bigger share of the national purse at the expense of
children and their families.

Giving parents extra
clout at the polls is a good thing only if parents can be trusted to recognize
their own children’s long-term interests and vote accordingly. Me,
I’d rather let kids themselves vote after age of, say, five. Sounds ridiculous? You say that  children are not mature enough, not educated
enough to exercise this grave civic responsibility? Maybe, but if the capacity
to executing these duties informedly and responsibly were really a condition of
the franchise, half the adults in this country would never be allowed near a voting
booth. I offer the success at the polls of Mr. Trump in support of my point. 

This article appears in Sep 29 – Oct 5, 2016.