eKourier Oct 2014

NEV’S NOTES

Nevs Notes... VOTING: RIGHT OR PRIVILEGE?

Nev enjoyed expressing his ideas in this section of the Kourier. These little gems have been appreciated by many in KSS. We will continue to publish his ideas that we have in stock. Enjoy!

“ Perhaps the politicians, who trust us to elect them, trust us to support them with our taxes, don’t really trust us to vote for them so they make it compulsory to do so. A bit like the coercion to pay taxes. ” market, should not get a vote. Welfare recipients, bureaucrats, politicians and all who consume taxes have not earned the right to vote so they don’t get a vote. It would be like a Corporation where the shareholders vote on company matters. With a corporation, the employees don’t vote, the suppliers don’t vote, the customers don’t vote, unless they are also shareholders, only shareholders vote on Board of Directors appointments and constitutional matters. If only tax producers got to vote the politicians would be anxious to look after the productive members of the electorate, and so there would be lots of incentive to keep taxes low and government expenditure low. Pressure a right, or should it be a privilege with the right to vote being something that is Earned? I have a very controversial, very politically-incorrect, very “discriminating” view on this. This view is bound to be unpopular, and it has little chance of ever gaining political or electoral support. My proposal is that to gain the privilege to vote, you must be a Net Tax Producer. Tax Consumers, those who don’t produce goods or services for the

for government hand-outs, grants, benefits would be minimal. Welfare would revert to the private sector and the monitoring of such expenditure would be scrutinised by the benefactors and the administrating charities. If voting was a privilege, to be earned and valued, people would be proud to be among the Voting Class, the Productive Class, and would be keen to join the privileged Net Tax Producer Class. Public Servants may even be keen to privatise their ‘service’ so they can become members of the Voting Class. Does this idea have any chance of being adopted? Not a snowflake’s chance in hell! But is fun to think about, if you are a Tax Producer that is. If you are Tax Consumer then you will hate it with every bone in your body. You will label the idea with every pejorative and invective you can come up with. So whatever side of the Tax Producer — Tax Consumer divide you are on, enjoy the love or hate of the idea. It ain’t gonna happen so don’t worry.

Voting, in western democracies, is a right that all citizens, over a certain age, gain typically when they turn eighteen. It was once at age twenty-one. The evolution of Democracy and the Right-to-Vote has evolved over the last hundred and more years. Once it was just property owners, and men. Then the franchise was extended and extended. The thing about voting is that if the government does do much, doesn’t tax much, doesn’t interfere much, then voting is not considered very important. The Swiss, with one of the world’s most stable democracies, only granted women the right to vote in 1971. It was not then considered very important, unjust and “sexist” to the Swiss, thought it may now seem that way to us. In nearly all democracies, voting is voluntary. Only Australia, Belgium and Argentina make voting compulsory. Why it is compulsory is a very good question. I would say that compulsory voting is undemocratic! Isn’t part of a “Democratic Society” to do with freedom? Doesn’t making voting compulsory make us a bit less free? Of course with Secret Ballots, voting is not really compulsory, showing up at the polling place and having your name crossed off the list is what is compulsory. Not casting a ballot, or casting a blank ballot paper, or writing some obscenity on the paper is OK. Just go to the inconvenience of making the trip to the polling place so you save yourself the threat of a fine. Dumb??? And recently there was an idea to reduce the voting age to sixteen! Allowing children to vote! The politicians may like it as there would be a whole new constituency to promise goodies to. But I think the tax-payers — the “producers” — would baulk at this one. Perhaps the politicians, who trust us to elect them, trust us to support them with our taxes, don’t really trust us to vote for them so they make it compulsory to do so. A bit like the coercion to pay taxes.

August 27th, 2010

Nev Kennard

But who should get a vote ? Should it be

19 Kennards Kourier October 2014