Kids 12+ who can prove they know about politics should be able to vote

To unpack what I said a little.

I know a very intelligent political scholar who has been published in political journals and been taught at some of the best universities for political theory.

Until 6 years ago or so, his argument was "well this scholar says something so I believe it is true." No joke. This highly educated, intelligent thinker whom I've debated on issues always went back to some authority he trusted above the actual words straight from the mouths of the original people we were talking about.

He one day admitted his fallacy, but he still commits to it, just significantly less so.

The sad part is, his story is the norm, not the exception. Most people I debate will always, ALWAYS stick with an authority, even when I literally pull out the exact quotes from primary sources, or I show them photographs or videos of events, that are totally contradictory to their authority figures, they call me crazy or a conspiracy theorist. They prefer to believe the lie from the authority rather than the actual annals of the events. Age doesn't matter.

Being an adult does not inherently make one a better voter. Being a more logical thinker does.

The problem with RM's argument is that the gross majority of teenage beliefs are formed by parents or schoolteachers and carry far into adulthood for the gross majority of the American population.

Most people believe something because they heard a teacher or an authority say it, and many times they trust that authority figure because, from birth, they were conditioned (or, more likely, brainwashed) into trusting that person despite any real action that authority figure took to prove they deserve that trust.

Teenagers are simply adults who haven't been fully brainwashed yet. And, no, I am not saying this is how people are naturally wired. Nor am I saying this is how people are meant to be. I am simply postulating what is. Most people are quite happy to be brainwashed and do not want to think for themselves. They want someone else to do the thinking for them. Case-in-point, Statichead's story of how she basically told her mother how to vote. Her mother was an adult who took very little interest in doing her own research in the realm of politics and instead relied on someone else to explain it all to her.

Being an adult doesn't magically make someone a better voter. A 12-year-old can vote better than a 50-year-old. It depends on the decision process, not the age.

I suppose if long lived intelligences existed,
That saw continual improvement in individuals understanding and control, more they aged,
Such as elves or robots, maybe,

They might have higher age bar,
To entering certain votes, positions.

Though,
If one's situation is effected, one generally wants a say.

I suppose if children were stronger, they'd have a say,
But strength is not only in body and mind, but is societal structure and norms,
A human child waits X years, they're then on the other side, 'have their right to vote, and what.

vote con I forfeit O_O

I agree everybody should need a literacy or knowledge test of some sort

just make sure its not like those stupid racist ones from the jim crow days

What makes 12 a better benchmark age than 18? For that matter, why not stipulate that anyone, regardless of age, must demonstrate a basic literacy and understanding of current politics in order to vote? I expect most 18-year-olds don't know that much either.

The voting age has long been associated with the age of majority, when you become a full person in the eyes of the law. Similarly to children, in the past women or people of color could not vote, own property, operate businesses. One might look at this and say that equal suffrage for children is the last frontier in true legal equality, but I would say that this one is distinctly more justified than the other two.

Well, they cant possibly be dumber than average american.

So there is no harm.