Stop Idiocy

Interesting article up on Yahoo! News that highlights the biggest flaw in democratic systems: the voting population. According to research, the average person simply isn’t intelligent enough for democracy to work well. Not surprisingly, a democratic process combined with a largely unintelligent population overwhelmingly tends to produce mediocre results.

Ever since I learned about the voting process, I’ve been dubious about the merits of democracy in America: “You mean there is no test? Everyone gets a say? But what if a person doesn’t understand any of the issues?”

The average American reads at an 8^th grade level and can’t solve basic math problems. How likely is it that they understand, for example, tax reform issues? Does it really make sense to simply let everyone have a say when the vast majority don’t have even a basic grasp on what they’re tasked with voting on?

Or perhaps it’s a moot point, given that much of the population don’t seem overly concerned with trivial stuff like economic reform, healthcare, and military spending. The average American seems far more interested in what their leaders have to say about gay marriage, contraceptives, and other religious issues. Some of our presidential candidates, too.

But I digress. The article is an interesting, quick read if you haven’t looked at it yet.