I love politics. I love talking about politics and reading about politics, and I wouldnt mind participating in the political process some day. Im one of those people most decent folk dread talking to because my conversations usually end up about politics or current events or any combination of the two. It really fascinates me. Politics has an effect on everything in life. Politics directly or indirectly influences health care, public safety, education, social programs and anything else one can imagine.

Despite its importance to everyday life, many people, especially college-age people, despise discussing politics. In our society, politics has become one of those taboo subjects people loathe bringing up in polite conversation. One only seeks to bring about arguments and alienation if he or she dares to broach the subject of our political process.

This creates a rather significant problem. People in todays society are encouraged more and more to vote. The most recent campaign to increase voter turnout I can recall was P. Diddys Vote or Die campaign for the 2004 presidential election, but it certainly wasnt alone. Others like Mtvs Rock the Vote have popped up seemingly every year to encourage young people to get out and vote to take control of and participate in their government.

But is this really a good idea?

As I have said many times before, an informed populace is the lifeblood of any democracy. But if people cannot take it upon themselves to become informed, do we really want them voting?

I am, by no means, a proponent of true democracy. Even if it were logistically possible to ensure every persons vote was counted with no chance of tampering, I still would be against it. Why, you ask? Because I dont believe everyone should vote. Now, I didnt say I dont believe everyone should be able to vote, I said I dont think everyone should vote.

Let me explain. When our forefathers started this grand experiment they called United States of America, they wanted to make sure that only white males who owned property could vote in elections. Im sure there were many reasons for this, and maybe some of those were less than noble. But the true reason for this, I believe, was that white males who owned property were the most likely people to stay informed about the politics and current issues of the day.

They were literate, well read and usually had experience in some form of statesmanship or another. In other words, they knew what was going on. They were the ideal people to be voting in elections that could have an impact on not only their individual states, but the fledgling country as a whole.

I think our forefathers had the right idea. They knew the general population was fickle and uninformed. If they allowed everyone to vote, who knows where our country would be right now.

The same is true today. There are legions of uninformed, undeserving people who vote based on political campaign commercials, name plates they see on the side of the road and billboards they pass by on the way home from work. This is not how a people get informed.

How many times have you voted for someone because you recognized his or her name? How many times have you seen a political attack ad and thought to yourself, I can't believe he/she would do such a thing, but then never research it to see if it were actually true? How many times have you voted for someone based solely on their looks?

I believe this happens far more often than it should. I dont trust most of my peers to make decisions for me, especially decisions that have long reaching consequences, because I know I care about these things more than 95 percent of the people in my age group. If they cant take the time out of their day to, at the very least, learn about politics, I dont want them voting in our elections.

Some things are far too important to leave in the hands of the unwashed masses. Sometimes people should just stay home on election day.