Introduction

The question is not who is judged to be legal, but who is qualified. Remember, just because it is legal, does not mean it is right. The reverse is also true; just because it is right, does not mean that it is legal.

That is the subject of today’s 10-minute episode. 

Continuing

We’ll get to specifics in a moment, but here is what is needed in general to be qualified to vote:

Love and respect your country; whether you think it needs massive changes, some changes or no changes, you need to love America and want the best for her. 

Understand the many responsibilities that come with the right to vote. All rights have equal or greater responsibilities. Let’s unpack which responsibilities underpin the right to vote, and what those responsibilities mean.

At the official founding of our nation, with the ratification of the Constitution in 1789, only propertied white males could vote. This was the opposite of inclusiveness and diversity, but it had temporary advantages. These were the very men who had just gone through a revolution, an impossible undertaking pitting a tiny country with an ill trained and poorly equipped military against the most powerful force the world had ever seen. Here’s a summary of how we won that miraculous victory: We lost and we lost and we lost–until we won. This country, our country, had risked everything and won. America and its fighters risked their lives, property and money–everything they had–to gain their–and our–freedom. They had, in the strictest meaning of the term, “skin in the game.” You can believe that they had enough of themselves invested in their country, that they–each one–would do a deep dive into the candidates and issues before voting. A deep dive that would go far beyond what the vast majority of what people–even those who feel they are well informed voters–are willing to do today.

Why? The answer is simple; only people who know what freedom is and don’t have it can truly appreciate it. Consequently, they risked everything to get it. And they were not going to endanger that hard won freedom by being casual voters.

Very few people today are anywhere near that diligent when it comes to voting. Why? The answer is again simple; we take our freedoms for granted, never believing for a moment that there is any connection between those precious–and rare–freedoms, and how well we inform ourselves before we participate in the political process. Since we do not realize what our freedoms are worth, what it cost to earn and maintain them, we assign little value to them. And they’re not worth protecting with something even as safe as being well informed and diligent. Note that we are not talking about taking up arms and fighting for our freedoms; we are talking about acquiring and analysing information. 

All too many of our politicians, media and activists are no longer building upon the breakthrough vision that was America in 1776, desperately fought for and defended many times, and given to us to grow and protect. Those politicians, media and activists are the beneficiaries of the miraculous 1776 results from which we all benefit. They not only criticize and demean our country, they want to harvest the bounty that we have all inherited, without replanting, and use it for their personal and their party’s gain. Imagine for a moment a group that inherited a generations old, amazingly productive farm and ranch, now covering hundreds of thousands of acres, which had grown to be able to feed millions of people. Now imagine with me that the new owners, the new leaders, wanted to stop growing the operation. They found legitimate wrongdoing in the past, casually ignoring the great good things that were also done, and now want to stop planting and growing. And at the same time, they want, as some sort of penance, to no longer sell what the enterprise produces, but simply give things away. How long would...