Quote Originally Posted by Zeitgeist
Quote Originally Posted by Rostov
Quote Originally Posted by OmegaZero_Alpha
fining people for not voting? How is that democracy?

than again, they do pay tens of thousands of dollars for computers...
Not being Australian, I don't understand their reasoning myself. However, in the old Soviet Union, consistently refusing to vote(!) in their elections resulted in imprisonment.
in soviet union, government fines YOU.

rofl.


but no seriously, democracies are a failure. need proof? go to wallmart and people watch. some of those people shouldnt be allowed out of their house, let alone into a voting booth where their opinions are equal to that of much more informed and educated persons. and i don't know about you, but i don't want "joe sixpack" to decide who should lead the government, because "joe sixpack" doesn't know shit about shit.
Interestingly, in John Stuart's Mill On Liberty, I think there was a section in there about how a person's socio-economic 'rank' in life determined how many votes that person received. A person could receive anywhere from 1 to 7 votes. So a hobo would receive but 1 vote whereas a CEO of a major corporation or high powered lawyer would receive 7 votes. The middle class would receive of course, 3 or 4 votes each.

This idea I think was floated around in the mid 1800s. Darn, it's been many years since I read that book. Anyways, this electoral system was suggested because their was a real fear from those in power that the masses would vote for some 'anarchic' party(misnomer but anyways....)
So this staggered voting system was meant to balance the sheer numbers of the masses. As it is, life didn't turn out that way.

hmmmm, got to see if I have still have that book buried somewhere in my library shelves.