Earlier quoted context omitted.
You really think the average 13 year old knows the constitutional age limit to be President?
Yes, it's much more likely that they know the age limit than your average baby boomer. Haven't you watched that show Are you smarter than a 5th grader? Most adults have shockingly poor general knowledge.
Jonathan James
121–125 of 125 posts
Re: Jonathan James
#122Earlier quoted context omitted.
Elections are won by convincing the "right" people to get out and vote and the "wrong" people to stay home. Disenfranchisement is already happening. I would also argue that concern for one's offspring is not sufficient to know what's best for them, let alone the offspring of others.
> Elections are won by convincing the "right" people to get out and vote and the "wrong" people to stay home. Disenfranchisement is already happening. Yes, it's bad enough what already happens, but that's hardly an argument for making it worse. > I would also argue that concern for one's offspring is not sufficient to know what's best for them, let alone the offspring of others Now you're changing the argument entire…
In fairness, that was proposed by jlgreco, and I just wanted to use that suggestion to move toward a more practicable discussion of the de facto disenfranchisement of younger voters by the two-party system, higher turnout among older voters, etc.
A possibility I would like to consider for discussion is a multi-tiered legal system in which every ~25 years the new generation starts from scratch with a new set of laws, limited only by a small set of human rights guidelines. People can then opt into whichever generation's set of laws they want, with the ability to switch tiers every year or two, but you can only vote in the tier for your age group.
It's not a fully formed idea and I"m sure one could poke lots of holes in it, but I still think that it would be interesting to discuss in another context (this thread's already long enough that this comment is only an inch wide on the article page).
Re: Jonathan James
#123Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Elections are won by convincing the "right" people to get out and vote and the "wrong" people to stay home. Disenfranchisement is already happening. Yes, it's bad enough what already happens, but that's hardly an argument for making it worse. > I would also argue that concern for one's offspring is not sufficient to know what's best for them, let alone the offspring of others Now you're changing the argument entire…
Now you're changing the argument entirely, and not in a very promising direction for you. If it's a question of knowledgeability, you've just undermined your entire scheme to give 13 year olds the vote. In fairness, that was proposed by jlgreco, and I just wanted to use that suggestion to move toward a more practicable discussion of the de facto disenfranchisement of younger voters by the two-party system, higher tur…
Re: Jonathan James
#124Earlier quoted context omitted.
Gonzalez stole real money, I'm sure causing many people a great deal of trouble and distress. He said in chat logs that he aimed to steal $15 million and retire. It's really not that much different from pickpocketing or bank robbery, except on a much larger scale, and I'm quite happy if pickpockets, bank robbers, insurance scammers, and other criminals get serious time. This is quite different from Aaron Swartz who w…
Aaron didn't have access, that is why he broke into the MIT physical network.
Re: Jonathan James
#125Looks like Steve Heymann has a history of this: "The case was picked up by Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Heymann in Boston, the cybercrime prosecutor who won a record 20-year prison stretch for TJX hacker Albert Gonzalez. Heymann indicted Aaron on 13 counts of wire fraud, computer intrusion and reckless damage. The case has been wending through pre-trial motions for 18 months, and was set for jury trial on April 1."…
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/fire-assistant-us-...