In Which I Commit Heresy
By Mitch Berg
Switzerland didn’t adopt female suffrage until 1972. The ignorant sometimes chalk this up to institutional sexism.
It’s untrue, at least directly. The Swiss’ belief was that voting was a right – for those who defended Switzerland. All Swiss men, at the time, served in the Swiss military; such service was a pre-condition of the franchise, on the theory that only those who were committed to defending Switzerland had a complete voice in running the country.
And women just didn’t serve in the military, back then.
Now, I’m not advocating this for the US. No, not at all.
But I do think that “being aware of the world and the issues” is an appropriate level of commitment to justify participation in our democratic process.
And so – if you can’t be bothered to learn the issues beyond the simple buzz-phrases or memorizing names, then please stay home and don’t pollute the electoral process with your ignorance.
This is not a partisan statement, by the way. It applies to all sides of the aisle…
…although I think it’s fairly clear which party’s gone long on “unthinking, ignorant fealty”.
