The UK intends to lower the voting age to16 for the next election. Few things could be more appropriate than giving Generation Broke a political voice. This whole idea is based on their ability to work, etc.
The theory is if you pay taxes, you should be able to vote. You are now therefore entitled to vote for the incompetent, obsolete lunatics of your choice.
The problem is that this exposes teens to arguably the most corrupt and insane politics in history, with no clear protection.
Politicians are expressing a range of muddled second-hand views:
Some worry that younger people will support “leftist” groups. That apparently means anyone who wants a standard of living even remotely like that of their great-grandparents.
Some think that they’ll support the self-promoting do-nothing Reform Party, a fragment of the shabby remains of British conservatism.
Most of them worry about Trump-style misinformation and “foreign interference”. Pity that wasn’t mentioned during the pro-Brexit rallies with all those American flags waddling along with the pro-Brexit marchers.
Then there’s social media. The decades-long curse of the teens is likely to be severe in any political context. This group is highly exposed to all forms of social media, 24/7. Armies of bots infest every subject.
Protecting democracy? How?
It’s hard to argue that democracy in the US or the UK has had any protection at all. Age of voters was no defense against the fraudulent conservative campaigns of 2016, which introduced Trump and Brexit.
The conservatives in the UK were effectively obliterated after years of total abysmal failure and mismanagement. That was an honest gut reaction, not “democracy at work”.
It’s also hard to argue that older voters did much to protect America from what is looking like the most disastrous presidency in history. The general consensus is that older voters fell for a mix of nostalgia and prejudice, with a sprinkle of rabies. The suspiciously inept, lacklustre Democrat campaign did easily as much damage.
A democracy is supposed to be credible. Interesting theory, isn’t it?
The question is whether younger voters can affect this tide of idiocy at all. Voter apathy is no great asset. Faith in the political process is effectively non-existent. It also doesn’t naturally follow that overstressed younger people are more focused on politics than their parents.
How interested are the teens?
Nobody seems to know.
Did anyone ask them? Lowering the voting age is a perennial issue, usually not taken seriously, and nothing is done about it. I have yet to see any response from UK teens.
The public, meanwhile, opposes lowering the voting age by 47% to 27% according to More In Common, a UK think tank. The group also stated that the teens were too small a group to have much effect on voting numbers.
If you want to protect a democracy, it makes more sense to have a trustworthy democracy.
That might work.
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Disclaimer
The opinions expressed in this Op-Ed are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the Digital Journal or its members.
