aNewDomain commentary— Before and after elections, Americans interviewed on national television repeatedly display their ignorance of politics and current events. So why is it a good idea to encourage still more people to vote?
For aNewDomain, I’m Ted Rall.
Based in New York, our Pultizer Prize finalist Ted Rall is a world-renowned cartoonist, essayist and political commentator. Find him here at anewdomain and at our sister site, breakingmodern.com. Follow him @TedRall.
How very Alexander Hamilton of you! :) Seriously, though, Thomas Jefferson, in his Proposal for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge (advocating free-for-everyone.. um.. “free” everyones…. not slaves… public schools), pointed out that when the rights and power are deposited in the citizenry, it is of existential importance to insure the “People” are educated well enough to deal with it. I believe the gradual (and ongoing) erosion of public education is part of this systematic attempt to roll back our democracy to the elitist Republic envisioned by Hamilton and his friends in the 1790s.
Uhm. Yes. A true functioning democracy is predicated on an informed electorate. So there ya go. A democracy we DO NOT HAVE. An oligarcich kleptocracy is what we got.
+1 “how very Alexander Hamilton” of you @tedrall