Sunday, February 25, 2018

No, We Shouldn't Lower The Voting Age. We Should Raise It. Here's Why

In recent days, the Left has renewed its push to lower the voting age to 16. They claim that the "civic engagement" of the kids from Parkland, Florida proves that high school students should have the right to vote.
Interestingly, there are thousands of civically-engaged teenagers who show up to the March For Life every year, yet the Left never describes their activism in such glowing terms. Indeed, the Left is wagering (correctly, I think) that there are far more anti-gun teens than pro-life teens. If they had any inkling that the ratio was reversed, the last thing they'd want to do is give these people the franchise. Once again, they are putting the Parkland kids on a a platform simply and solely because the Parkland kids are politically useful to them. It is a sick spectacle.
Personally, I have all the sympathy in the world for these teens. And, though I disagree with their gun control push, I do admire their eagerness to get involved. Unlike the Left, I also admire the kids at the March For Life. But I don’t think any of them should vote. In fact, if we are going to do anything with the voting age, we ought to raise it.
There is a general misconception common among Americans on both sides of the political aisle. We believe that voting is the divine destiny of all citizens and the fewest possible restrictions should be placed on the practice. We labor under the delusion that our democracy is healthier when more people “participate.” We put together voting drives and entice as many human beings as we can to the polls, urging — no, demanding — that they all vote, no matter how uninformed they might be, or how little they otherwise contribute to society. We have in our heads a vision of America as a harmonious utopia governed by an oblivious mob of millions.
This is not actually the sort of system our Founders had in mind. They had in mind a country governed by mature and reasonable Americans who had a real stake in things. Granted, they excluded black people and women from this vision. That was an injustice that had to be, and has been, rectified. Now men and women, black and white, can vote. But there is no reason why all men and women, all black and white people, regardless of age, knowledge, maturity, wisdom, should vote. We’ve rightly done away with race and gender barriers. We should not have done away with every other barrier.
Read the rest from Matt Walsh HERE.

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