One should only be able to vote if he paid taxes in the last three years. If there is a year no taxes paid, then lose vote for three years again. Or something like that.

atlas can't shrug since his hands have been tied behind his back.

the country is in free fall. the brain dead leaders(?) living it up in wash dc are working in concert regardless what you may think against the working part of the population and obviously do not know what they are doing. we have morphed into a basic dictatorship of sorts and there is no opposition to it. regardless who gets the job next NOTHING will change.

get used to it. and if you want a place to go to do the research and become a survivalist. all of the hostilities taking place all over the world leave little place to go to, maybe the australian out back.

And the power of your vote to the value of your property?

I agree totally.

To answer your question directly, I am reminded of a quote from a well known motivational huckster. the Quote is profound and true.

Question: At what point does Atlas Shrug??
Answer:
“...when the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change.”

― Tony Robbins

Yep...you sure wouldn't vote to take another's property...which is this countries biggest problem...one of them...it's what started the socialist snowball rolling.....which has grown and grown and will continue to until we're all crushed by it.

Their conversation points straight to what Zen just posted on this thread. Some people can't, don't or won't THINK!

But you might be a property owner if only property owners could vote. I also think we would have a much smaller government if this were the case and owning property would be more economically viable. Just a thought. :)

Well stated LS!

It also means you have some skin in the game of what you're voting on.

Hmm, in that case, I would not be eligible. That would kind of make me sad, but it is how things were in the beginning.

It would also be hulpful if we had a one line description of what we're after. My thought is reduced cost and intrusiveness of govt.

I don't sense building frustration, unfortunately. I don't think this issue is on the radar for many people. There's a lot of " what should government do about XYZ?" but not much questioning of whether government's should be reduced overall even if on the surface its intrusiveness catches a kidnapper and provides "free" education, medicine, etc.

Aaah, let's try Heinlein's quote:

"Most people can’t think, most of the remainder won’t think, the small fraction who do think mostly can’t do it very well. The extremely tiny fraction who think regularly, accurately, creatively, and without self -delusion— in the long run, these are the only people who count." —Robert A. Heinlein

We're already having that every year. It's called 'police kill unarmed man during traffic stop, or during early morning raid on wrong house, etc.

We shouldn't have to be paying the vast majority of taxes. Let's tie voting to property owners.

Yeah, but would the new country give me $35,000. Oooops. No, they'd probably make me show proof of sufficient support for myself or have to invest a minimum amount in something.

Hi, OA. How about this for an example? A few months ago I was waiting at the gate to catch my plane, and I hear 2 women talking near me. One is wondering how people could feel worried about Obama? I turned around and basically said that tyrants are always very clear about their intentions if you just listen. She said, like who? I said that Hitler stated his intentions more than once. Her answer was that she had heard he was a nice guy.
I told her there was no need for me to speak to her.

I won't scold...I'll just laugh. I took the easy route... I'm not respecting myself for that right now...lol

Well, it does have an acceptable, more general connotation. You will now probably catch me using it later and scold me! :)

Hello Mamaemma,
I am in your camp. I am just frustrated sometimes when I have recently run into too many know-nothings. You know the kind. They walk around like zombies unaware of what is happening in the world... They don't vote and of many that do it is a good thing, since they are ill-informed, or contaminated with statist ideology.
We need to see many more young people with the spirit of 76 instilled instead of drilled out of them by today's so called "education system."

I do what I can to edify the generations of youth in my family and to anyone else that will listen.
I just hope our words are having an impact.
Carpe diem,
O.A.

I erased "faith"...then didn't have the time to come up with a better word..so I let it go.. lol (but yes..you are right.)

Maybe some angry marches...that end up at certain people's door steps then.

OA, I don't think it's ennui; I think it's frustration. I want to fight, but I'd like to think I have more than a snowball's chance in hell of winning.

LetsShrug, we DID march in the streets by the thousands, as the Tea Party, so they eviscerated the movement with the IRS