tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-114432749054567487.post7023821776703665077..comments2023-10-31T07:33:11.591-04:00Comments on Chris's Commons: Tom Tancredo: Obama's Election Was Due to a Lack of 'Literacy Tests'Chris Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15913672445900789270noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-114432749054567487.post-90090160338719710662010-02-09T16:28:58.878-05:002010-02-09T16:28:58.878-05:00Chris, I think it is obvious that Tancredo was usi...Chris, I think it is obvious that Tancredo was using his call for literacy tests for rhetorical affect and not as a serious proposal. But if you grant that literacy tests cannot become reality for many different historical and practical reasons (including some of those mentioned) and just look at them theoretically, they would probably be the most effective means of combatting a very serious flaw of modern democracies: an electorate that includes huge numbers who possess scarily little socio/political facts or analytical skills.<br /><br />And as I stated before, the modern left is mostly a coalition of advanced-degree types (who are very confident they know whats best for all of us and want to centralize power in their hands) and those on the bottom of the educational/economic ladder and so my 'elitist' charge, as always, stems from that.treyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05492508216424438001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-114432749054567487.post-48983553240301662702010-02-08T14:51:53.990-05:002010-02-08T14:51:53.990-05:00So, in short, you are in favor of the creation of...So, in short, you are in favor of the creation of literacy tests before one can vote? Your position is that natural born citizens do not have an inherent right to have a say in who represents them in government?<br /><br />I would also be interested to hear who would be responsible for creating such a literacy test and how we would guard against racism or class-ism in applying this test (especially when there is already a track record of these tests being used for the specific purpose of marginalization). It is surprising that you usually cast the "elitist" label on the left while you simultaneously imply that implementing literacy tests before voting should be applied.Chris Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15913672445900789270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-114432749054567487.post-22454201021929091712010-02-07T12:50:21.326-05:002010-02-07T12:50:21.326-05:00Is the same left that is constantly moaning about ...Is the same left that is constantly moaning about them dumb Republicans? Unfortunately, Tancredo's common sense proposal (there is really no structural reason why we couldn't design a fair literacy test, even if fairness entailed more funds for underfunded, underperforming schools)exposes one of the fundamental hypocricies of modern liberalism: it has trouble dealing with unpleasant realities. So you get purported scientific-sounding explanations like 'illiteracy rates 4.5 times as high as whites due to historical discrimination and lack of opportunity' that can partially explain a social observation but fails to explain why illiteracy rates in places like modern day DC (which spends vastly higher per student than the median)remain so troublingly high or why some minority groups that have suffered as bad or worse oppression in its recent history became the elite academics of America within 20 years of their arrival at their underfunded American schools. And while your pondering that, maybe also try to give a plausible explanation (that is not laughable on its face) why in today's Super Bowl a vast majority of the players will all share a subtle, hard-to-observe characteristic that no one is supposed to ever mention in our forums for serious discussion?treyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05492508216424438001noreply@blogger.com