• WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    4
    ·
    edit-2
    2 days ago

    the age limit is not about closing people out entirely, but limit it while they are more gullible. sure there’s lots of fools beyond 18, but the concept is that hopefully most people as they ahe, become less so, and much of that process happens around age 18 and somewhat beyond.
    now add that kids today are not only exposed to shit spreading on facebook but now tiktok too, and they don’t know when they are being deceived. source: I didn’t know with facebook when I was in that age.

    look, there were not too many elections yet on which I could have voted. but I think even 18 might be too early. I remember that I just missed an election by a few months, and today I’m ashamed of what would have been my choice. I almost voted for a party that looked ashamed of its corrupt past, just because they acknowledged it and promised it wouldn’t happen again.

    this is not a step forward.

    • Barrington@feddit.org
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      2 days ago

      If your main points are around misinformation, propaganda, fake new, ai generated content or anything that convinces people of something that is false, I would say this is a huge, but separate issue that affects everyone, not just 16-17 year olds.

      Younger people consume different types of media and paying influencers to pick political sides doesn’t seem to be as uncommon as I would like.

      That being said, Cambridge analytica already showed us that the age groups that can vote are not immune to have their opinions manipulated via targeted misinformation.

      They are just as fucked as we are, let them vote.

        • Barrington@feddit.org
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          2 days ago

          If we are taking things to extremes to make the point.

          You plan would be to block anyone that may be gullible from voting.

          The question is how? Forced iq tests or level of education achieved. Maybe some demographics are more susceptible? Age, race, gender? Maybe location. Are rural communities less likely to consume propaganda? Are they more likely?

          It seems the original argument was that if at 16 you can join the army and fight in a war, should you get a voice on if we go to war?

          I think yes.

          • WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.works
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            1 day ago

            You plan would be to block anyone that may be gullible from voting.

            where did I say that? my suggestion is to not increase the proportion of gullible people, perhaps reduce it by slightly increasing the age limit (like to 20)

            The question is how? Forced iq tests or level of education achieved. Maybe some demographics are more susceptible? Age, race, gender? Maybe location. Are rural communities less likely to consume propaganda? Are they more likely?

            some kind of test would be ideal, but it sounds like Pandora’s box. an assumed “good” administration starts doing it, but even if it’s done fairly at the beginning, it’s too easy to change it to be used discriminatively

            It seems the original argument was that if at 16 you can join the army and fight in a war, should you get a voice on if we go to war?

            I think yes.

            I’m confident that 16 year olds should neither have voting rights, nor be allowed to go to war.

            • Barrington@feddit.org
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              1 day ago

              where did I say that? my suggestion is to not increase the proportion of gullible people, perhaps reduce it by slightly increasing the age limit (like to 20

              You didn’t, you took my point to the extreme when you said this:

              but then just delete the age limit. lets have kindergarten aged kids vote. what could go wrong?

              I was doing the same to your point to show how ridiculous it sounds when you exaggerate any of these ideas.

              What I would add that got pointed out to me today is, that if we have a general election every 5 years, someone who turns 18 just after an election potentially may not be able to vote for the first time untill they almost 23.

              Again, my opinion is that being able to vote for the first time between 16-20 sounds a lot better than voting for the first time between 18-22.

              • WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.works
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                1
                ·
                1 day ago

                What I would add that got pointed out to me today is, that if we have a general election every 5 years, someone who turns 18 just after an election potentially may not be able to vote for the first time untill they almost 23.

                I agree that’s unfortunate, the first vote I was eligible for was at 21. It’s not ideal. I think a better solution would be to have more (meaningful) votes (not necessarily with shorther terms)

                Again, my opinion is that being able to vote for the first time between 16-20 sounds a lot better than voting for the first time between 18-22.

                I’m not sure. I would rather just increase the age limit to 20, and implement a fix to have more times you can vote.