Voting Should be a Privilege, Not a Right

A say in how your country is run shouldn’t come for free

Photo by visuals on Unsplash

Have you ever read the book Starship Troopers? If you’ve only ever seen the movie, you’re probably wondering why the hell I’m bringing it up on a post about voting rights. That’s because the book heavily leans into one of my favourite ideas in all of fiction:

That the right to vote is only earned through service.

The author, Robert Heinlein, makes a compelling case throughout, because he understands something essential about human nature: having skin in the game means people take a much higher level of responsibility. That’s because the things in life that are earned are never used in a carefree or frivolous manner - they’re appreciated and respected for the effort it took to obtain them.

It’s interesting how much we take voting for granted. I’m still in disbelief that everyone gets the right to vote at 18 years old. When you consider that the vast majority of 18 year olds have never lived outside of their parent’s home, don’t pay taxes and essentially know nothing of the real world, why on earth do they get a say in something they have no experience in?

In Australia, prisoners of all people have the right to vote. That’s right, people convicted of a serious enough crime to go…