"Raise the Standard" Coalition

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

Friends,

This idea has been brought up before but I think there now may be enough concensus and enough concern to do something about it.  If this forum is overrun by trolls or random friends of current posters who are just there to abuse the results of an election, then there is very little hope for our future.  The time has come to raise the posting standard.  I would place the new standard at 50 posts, though I would welcome any number above 18.

I do not wish in any way to discourage new people from joining the forum.  But we do have a clear problem here that must be solved.  People should spend a little time around here, learning about the diversity of parties, ideologies, and people before exercising their right to vote.

If you believe as I do that it's time to Raise the Standard, then we need to start talking about this and getting legislation back on the table that will fix this problem.

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

18 posts does not afford a poster enough time to even begin to comprehend the issues that face Atlasia and make an informed decision when they vote.

How about this, we still have the minimun of 18 posts, but people with less than 50 posts have to vote in every election to keep their registration?

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

It was set at 18 to correspond with age 18... but we have posters here with over 10,000 posts.  If we extrapolate that number to correspond with the highest age in real life (100+), then the post minimum should be 1,800.

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

So all I'm asking is for the posting limit to be raised from 18 (the equivalent of a 2 month old infant) to 50 (a 6 month old infant)

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

JJ,

Keep in mind my real-life analogy.   Allowing someone with 18 posts to vote is like allowing a 2 month old infant to vote.  Do you support that in real life?

I am recently registered, and have decided to play a part I don't play in real life, the average uninformed voter.  Many people are, in the words of an old poli sci text of mine, "voting specialists."  Their sole political participation is voting on election day.

In real life, I vote, contribute to campaigns, have worked on campaigns, ran for office, been elected to office, and still advise sitting candidates/officeholders/staff.  This is quite a change, but I want to keep the real world and my fantasy life separate.  :-)

I'd like to represent the "voting specialists" here and make this a little closer to a "real life" simulation.  On that basis, I do not favor the change.

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

And 4 more posts and you'd be just fine

I'm Matt. As Harry said, I read a lot; I just don't say much. And I've voted across the board--from PBrunsel to Harry--not just blind party loyalty.

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

Harry, Speaking of lurkers... say "hi" to KatieG for us.