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EPISTOCRACY

                                                         July 6, 2017

                                                   No, I don't remember what
                                                   that means either.  I need
                                                   to look it up again.
About some material from the book
"Against Democracy" by Jason Brennan.     John Quiggin at crookedtimber
                                          criticized this book in his piece
                                          "Against epistocracy".

  The first chapter of Brennan's
  book is available online for
  free:

    http://press.princeton.edu/titles/10843.html

  I don't think much of Jason Brennan's title.
  He's not really arguing "Against Democracy",      It's reminiscent
  but rather he's interested in thinking about      of Heinlein's discussion
  different variations of democracy.                of "Starship Troopers"
                                                    in the book "Extended
                                                    Universe".

  To state the obvious:                                  TROOPERS

    We do not, and never have had a *universal*
    franchise. Currently, in the US:

      o  no one under 18 can vote
      o  the status of convicted felons remains a hot topic
      o  many people living in the US aren't regarded as full
         citizens
      o "territories" such as Puerto Rico are not allowed
         to vote.
      o  a powerful faction is pushing for mandatory voter IDs
         which is expected to screen out many of the very poor
         to no good purpose.

    Brennan floats a number of ideas for variant
    political systems. The one that I like is:

        Enfranchisement lottery:
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