I get why the leeches want to vote, and I get why their enablers in politics want them to vote.. but why do folks like you who are paying their bills while they roam the streets getting into trouble instead of working think they deserve to vote, despite them not contributing to society? Genuinely curious the logic there, as I'm sure you see the downside, but I don't see the upside.
I'm not a cold-hearted asshole?
Seriously, I have personally known many folks, from family to friends, who have found themselves in circumstances out of their control and ended up on some sort of government assistance from medical insurance to unemployment. In many of the cases those circumstances found them merely because of luck or timing. Everything from cancer that occurs with no risk factors to accidents caused by others, bad shit happens in life. It happens far more that some folks who argue about 'leeches' seem to realize. And for almost scenario in which folks point to an instance in which government assistance should not be provided, from food assistance to medical care, I can point to numerous exceptions where it should be.
There are certainly people who take advantage of the system but that happens at all levels, from well-off Governor-farmers who get a substantial amount in farm subsidies every year to the person who gets paid good money under the table while still getting food stamps. But that is why we have a representative government that takes those concerns into account and constantly updates the programs that provide government assistance.
As for the upside? They are citizens of this country and by birthright have a say in what happens. To try and narrow down who gets to vote has very weighty historical implications in this country and would likely result in system that is very discriminatory to racial minorities and women. And even if that doesn't happen you end up with a system that only answers to those privileged enough to be able to vote, which pretty much always ends up being pretty bad for those who can't vote.
While I am often reminded of the Waco Kid's quote, "
These are people of the land. The common clay of the new West. You know... morons" when it comes to the 'common man' I am also reminded of Churchill's quote, "
Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.…"
