Thursday, April 3, 2008

No taxation of families, without representation of families!

The backbone of a nation is its people, and the backbone of its people is God and families. Currently in a family, the father has the right to one vote, as an individual, the mother has the right to her vote, also as an individual, but the children have no voting rights at all and therefore the family is underrepresented and should therefore perhaps question whether it should pay taxes. 

The seriousness of it all can only be comprehended when one goes to the site of the US Census Bureau, and reviews a report titled "Voting and Registration in the Election of November 2004" which examines the levels of voting and registration in the November 2004 presidential election, the characteristics of citizens who reported that they were registered for or voted in the election, and the reasons why registered voters did not vote. In this report the citizens are categorized according to their: Sex, Race and Hispanic Origin, Nativity Status (whether born in the US or naturalized), Age, Marital Status, Educational Attainment, Annual Family Income, Employment Status, Tenure (whether they own or rent the house), Duration of Residence at the place where they now live, Veteran Status and the Region where they originally come from. 

Nowhere is there to be found how fathers and mothers voted! 

Clearly the children and therefore the families are of little interest to political analysts and therefore presumably to the candidates. There is only one way to move forward and that is to empower the families and our future torchbearers by giving each child a right to vote, to be exercised by means of a solemn mandate given to their mother, father, elder sister, elder brother, grandmother or grandfather, in that order. Anything less would be to ignore the families. Anything less would be to fake our concerns with the future of our country and our planet. 

Per Kurowski A Venezuelan citizen that deeply shares all of your concerns with family and children.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

How mothers and fathers vote…doesn’t it matter?

While analyzing the availability of data on family I happened upon one of the most telling evidences of what is going wrong with our society.

The U.S. Census Bureau, among many other studies and reports, prepares a document that categorizes the citizens in many segments in order to analyze how they voted, for instance during the last presidential election of 2004.

In it the segments used are: Sex, Race and Hispanic Origin, Nativity Status (whether born in the US or naturalized), Age, Marital Status, Educational Attainment, Annual Family Income, Employment Status, Tenure (whether they own or rent the house), Duration of Residence at the place where they vote, Veteran Status and the Region where they come from.

In no place could we found the segment that relates to the most fundamental pillar of our society namely fathers and mothers. Could it really be that no one cares any longer how fathers and mothers vote?

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

The environment?

A couple of days ago, in a green meeting, surrounded by environmental activists, I started to argue for the 1C1V with the votes exercised by the parents and they all bunched up against me with their... “forget it!!! ... all those SUV driving parents!!!”.

I responded with "there is nothing like getting the mandate to vote someone else's vote, like your children's, to really start thinking responsibly about the future" and somehow the argument seemed to hit home, which of course is not something easy, or sure either, when talking with activists of any sort… like 1C1V´s activists.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

We need a new deal for democracy, families and children

CATO when commenting on Stephanie Coontz´s book Marriage, A History: How Love Conquered Marriage says:

“Family is a crucial building block of a decent society, but marriage has always been at the center of family formation. If marriage-as-we-know-it is on the rocks, can the family, and society, be far behind?”

That is absolutely right but when do we realize that the main problem is that a family with children gets a lousy political deal. A father and a mother with three children currently have only two votes to bargain with though they should in fact have five.

To think how those who invest so much in what will keep the society in the future are treated is a shame and parents should perhaps start to object paying taxes on the basis of no representation for their children.

We have to give the democracy, the families and the children a real new deal namely “One child one vote!” obviously with those votes exercised by the parents.

One child one vote!

What would you say if they took away the right to vote from the 51 million citizens over 60 years of age in the US on account that they did not have sufficient interest vested in the future of the country? Hate it? Then you should probably reflect on that more than 73 million of your children, with a much longer vested interest in the future, do not have the right to vote.

One child one vote!

Q. What does a child need besides being born and grow up in a loving family?
A. To have a voice of his own and his particular needs represented!
Q. Why do we not recognize the right to vote of ALL citizens, regardless of age?

US legislatures and the courts could assure the recognition of the right to vote of all citizens, regardless of age.

The citizens under the age of 18, as with all other rights they make use of as minors, would in such case be represented at the voting booth by their parents or whoever holds their legal guardianship.

Those accountable for how they represent their child at the voting booths would be made more aware of their responsibilities; and the importance of family.