About two years ago now, I was sitting on a bench in Central Park writing my initial thoughts on what I didn’t know then but would come to know as Youth Rights.
I don’t think I’ll ever remember why she did, but about halfway through the day Greta Thunberg came to mind, and I looked up the voting age in Sweden. And my blood boiled in a way I’ve never experienced in my entire life.
16 years old and one of the most famous and recognizable political activists in the world. 16 years old giving a confident, impassioned, admonishing speech to the fucking UN. 16 years old with no legal right to a voice in her country. No voice to vote for the policies she believed in or the people who might enact them.
My writing, already vitriolic to a fault, managed to become even moreso but with the topic abruptly switched to voting. For the first time in my life, I considered where I’d place the voting age if I could do so unilaterally. Not long into considering it I had a thought that I wrote down immediately, a question I’ve asked well over 100 times at this point with no substantial answer:
When is it reasonable to say to a person, ‘If you’re not at least this old, then I don’t give a fuck what you think’?
And from the moment I had that thought, I have been unable to place the voting age.
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Hmm, I’d be wary to parents taking advantage of this.
As opposed to billionaires just buying politicians?
Parents somehow “taking advantage” isn’t the problem.
It’s not like someone can just pop out 100 children to skew votes.
It’s not like someone can just pop out 100 children to skew votes
On an individual basis sure, but this still poses two problems:
- Is there a group of people that typically vote a certain who are prone to having more children than other groups. Due to different cultures, this is likely true.
- Why should parents of children get an extra vote over those who can’t have children? Personally I feel that having had children should bear no influence on the power of your voice.
Yeah, I agree that it’s unfair that it underrepresents childless people, and over represents large families.
What annoys me is that a very large portion of the population is disenfranchised (but still taxed in my country). Children have the most to lose, they’re voting with an 80-year view, the oldies are voting with a 5 year view.