Didn't Alexander Hamilton have some excellent suggestions viz a resticted franchise when writing as Publius in The Federalist Papers? Start there by using AI to write 3 more songs "In the style of the musical 'Hamilton' that describe Hamilton's recos for restricted franchise requirements." Turning a ship this big, listing this far, will require several tugboats, working together, over time. One massive shove won't happen.
Hamilton songs about restricting the franchise would be very funny, given the sort of people who are most into that musical
I think you are right, but can’t remember the passages; i need to go reread it
Hamilton and nearly all of the founders were obsessed with the idea of the “gentlemen”, by which they meant not being reliant on others for money, which does play into this a great deal
I’m suggesting writing NEW songs with AI. The extant songs probably go on and on about being an immigrant, as if Hamilton wasn’t eternally desperate to leave his immigrant status behind through superhuman public work.
Prostitution is also a crime, just not a felony. It would be a good policy to disenfranchise prostitutes, OF girls, and other people without a visible means of support/gainful employment. But somewhat unnecessary, these people likely don't vote.
Certainly. It would be difficult to miscreancy with disenfranchisement, but am aggressive prosecuton strategy could certainly pull off something of that nature. Giving up the franchise in order to avoid jail time, ect.
I’m all for doing that, but that’ll just push off most of these problems rather than fix them. Social Security’s trust fund was gonna run out even before the fraud problem became so huge
“Waste, fraud, and abuse” is an excellent way of saying “i an going to make absolutely zero cuts to public spending on any item that you do not proactively discredit on my behalf.” And then not canceling programs after they're discredited by a third party.
This is a great idea though. I think it’s what Victor Davis Hansen talks about in the Dying Citizen: the disappearance of the middle class. Now I understand his point better after reading your piece. Of course those who are poor just vote for more benefits, raiding the system as you say. And the very rich are outside the system altogether, exempt.
Well, this is certainly the Easy Fix for many of our ills. It is also extremely unlikely to happen absent a Second Revolution, which is still a remote possibility. About half the population is terminally stupid or on the dole, and the rest are comfortable, confused, cynical, hopeless or scared shitless. We’re in a bad spot. Glad I’m 80.
I tend toward agreeing. I think the marijuana felonies push, to wipe many pawns off the voting board, paired with something like no voting fir welfare recipients, after the big arrest push happens, is the only feasible peaceable way to do something, but it’s a long shot
Fully endorse. The franchise is one of the greatest problems we have at present, blocking improvement of the situation and potentially with immigration poised to make it worse.
We need virtuous elites in charge again, rather than the vicious and ignorant masses as we have now
You're right that democracy has short time horizons and politicians dodge hard fixes. They also dodge accountability because as soon as they are out, the voters are whipped back into partisan frenzy.
But restricting franchise doesn't constrain elites; it unleashes them. Early American property requirements didn't stop elites extracting from non-voters.
Voting doesn't constrain elite behavior much either way. Donor capture and party duopoly operate regardless of franchise size, the same folks are selected through the institution chains (from local to state level to federal level).
The question isn't who votes or who has the best discernment. It's what actually holds elites accountable. History says: independent institutions, distributed power. Not smaller electorates.
Another way around this is to make the votes of some worth more/additional votes for people who meet certain criteria. Eg married parents with children, homeowners, serving military, workers in strategic/risky industries etc.
Absolutely, if it wasn't clear I had no qualms with that. I enjoy how your work often mixes a theoretical/historic 'how we got here' with practical 'what we can do' suggestions.
If the weaponization of empathy isn’t terminated by repealing 19, nothing else really matters. Civilization - OR - female suffrage. You can’t have both.
This has been known across all cultures since Classical times: Eve, Pandora, Brunhilde … all .. were female for a reason. And that reason was to pass down wisdom and knowledge through the generations.
In this, as in so many things, time has proven that John Adams was right and Thomas Jefferson was wrong. But there is a solution. What cannot last will not last.
Excellent article, but it will take a civil war or total collapse to implement such obviously necessary steps. Also, the US is not Singapore. Any privatized Social Security program would immediately become a giant slush fund.
Depends on the state. The loss of franchise has been generally respected for awhile, though some are going wobbly now. We need to pair this with initiatives to watch and clean up the voter rolls, of course
I would think you'd need to change from the currrent sacred victim, entitled parasite culture (symbolixed by Kneeling Nancy) to a more aristocratic privilege, obligation, honor, and divine order culture (along the lines of ancient Athens maybe). It's a mindset that should be inculcated into children.
This would require a mocking of the current order (or rather chaos) for one thing.
The franchise as sacred ritual obscures its mechanical function: aggregating preferences into power. When we treat voting as identity expression rather than governance tool, we get the circus we deserve. What if we separated the civic religion from the counting mechanism entirely?
Didn't Alexander Hamilton have some excellent suggestions viz a resticted franchise when writing as Publius in The Federalist Papers? Start there by using AI to write 3 more songs "In the style of the musical 'Hamilton' that describe Hamilton's recos for restricted franchise requirements." Turning a ship this big, listing this far, will require several tugboats, working together, over time. One massive shove won't happen.
Hamilton songs about restricting the franchise would be very funny, given the sort of people who are most into that musical
I think you are right, but can’t remember the passages; i need to go reread it
Hamilton and nearly all of the founders were obsessed with the idea of the “gentlemen”, by which they meant not being reliant on others for money, which does play into this a great deal
I’m suggesting writing NEW songs with AI. The extant songs probably go on and on about being an immigrant, as if Hamilton wasn’t eternally desperate to leave his immigrant status behind through superhuman public work.
Oh I know. I got it. I just meant the Hamilton lovers would freak out once they caught what it was about
This is a great idea.
Hell, I’d even consider only disenfranchisement for most drug felonies. Kind of like sin taxes on OF models and the like.
Prostitution is also a crime, just not a felony. It would be a good policy to disenfranchise prostitutes, OF girls, and other people without a visible means of support/gainful employment. But somewhat unnecessary, these people likely don't vote.
I think targeting the urban, get out the vote drive participant Americans with anti-marijuana legislation probably has a better return on investment
Certainly. It would be difficult to miscreancy with disenfranchisement, but am aggressive prosecuton strategy could certainly pull off something of that nature. Giving up the franchise in order to avoid jail time, ect.
How about we start by eliminating the fraud and waste first and then see what happens? Thank you for your attention to this matter.
I’m all for doing that, but that’ll just push off most of these problems rather than fix them. Social Security’s trust fund was gonna run out even before the fraud problem became so huge
“Waste, fraud, and abuse” is an excellent way of saying “i an going to make absolutely zero cuts to public spending on any item that you do not proactively discredit on my behalf.” And then not canceling programs after they're discredited by a third party.
Xú Guāngqǐ - excellent choice of avatar.
This is a great idea though. I think it’s what Victor Davis Hansen talks about in the Dying Citizen: the disappearance of the middle class. Now I understand his point better after reading your piece. Of course those who are poor just vote for more benefits, raiding the system as you say. And the very rich are outside the system altogether, exempt.
Very thought provoking piece, thank you.
Thank you! I need to read that book of his. I’ve heard it’s good
Well, this is certainly the Easy Fix for many of our ills. It is also extremely unlikely to happen absent a Second Revolution, which is still a remote possibility. About half the population is terminally stupid or on the dole, and the rest are comfortable, confused, cynical, hopeless or scared shitless. We’re in a bad spot. Glad I’m 80.
I tend toward agreeing. I think the marijuana felonies push, to wipe many pawns off the voting board, paired with something like no voting fir welfare recipients, after the big arrest push happens, is the only feasible peaceable way to do something, but it’s a long shot
Fully endorse. The franchise is one of the greatest problems we have at present, blocking improvement of the situation and potentially with immigration poised to make it worse.
We need virtuous elites in charge again, rather than the vicious and ignorant masses as we have now
You're right that democracy has short time horizons and politicians dodge hard fixes. They also dodge accountability because as soon as they are out, the voters are whipped back into partisan frenzy.
But restricting franchise doesn't constrain elites; it unleashes them. Early American property requirements didn't stop elites extracting from non-voters.
Voting doesn't constrain elite behavior much either way. Donor capture and party duopoly operate regardless of franchise size, the same folks are selected through the institution chains (from local to state level to federal level).
The question isn't who votes or who has the best discernment. It's what actually holds elites accountable. History says: independent institutions, distributed power. Not smaller electorates.
Never gonna happen. We’re going to ride this wave all the way. To the bottom of the trough.
Another way around this is to make the votes of some worth more/additional votes for people who meet certain criteria. Eg married parents with children, homeowners, serving military, workers in strategic/risky industries etc.
Agreed, but the problem is how to achieve that, because most would vote against it for various interest group reasons
Hence the need to first use felonies as a cleanup bludgeon
Absolutely, if it wasn't clear I had no qualms with that. I enjoy how your work often mixes a theoretical/historic 'how we got here' with practical 'what we can do' suggestions.
Thank you!
The judiciary would have to be dealt with first.
If the weaponization of empathy isn’t terminated by repealing 19, nothing else really matters. Civilization - OR - female suffrage. You can’t have both.
This has been known across all cultures since Classical times: Eve, Pandora, Brunhilde … all .. were female for a reason. And that reason was to pass down wisdom and knowledge through the generations.
In this, as in so many things, time has proven that John Adams was right and Thomas Jefferson was wrong. But there is a solution. What cannot last will not last.
https://open.substack.com/pub/editorfmwebsite/p/a-glance-at-the-wests-future
Excellent article, but it will take a civil war or total collapse to implement such obviously necessary steps. Also, the US is not Singapore. Any privatized Social Security program would immediately become a giant slush fund.
Your proposal assumes that state and local election authorities will, in fact, take necessary measures to prevent ballots being cast in felons' names.
This is not a good assumption.
Depends on the state. The loss of franchise has been generally respected for awhile, though some are going wobbly now. We need to pair this with initiatives to watch and clean up the voter rolls, of course
I would think you'd need to change from the currrent sacred victim, entitled parasite culture (symbolixed by Kneeling Nancy) to a more aristocratic privilege, obligation, honor, and divine order culture (along the lines of ancient Athens maybe). It's a mindset that should be inculcated into children.
This would require a mocking of the current order (or rather chaos) for one thing.
The franchise as sacred ritual obscures its mechanical function: aggregating preferences into power. When we treat voting as identity expression rather than governance tool, we get the circus we deserve. What if we separated the civic religion from the counting mechanism entirely?