When I was 18 the greatest concerns in my life were dating girls, avoiding calls from my family, thinking up excuses to skip classes at college and constantly procrastinating when it came to all the important things in life. Aside from my immediate friends (and this would be for the very selfish reason of preserving the friendships I relied upon) I cared very little for others.
To be honest, I've only started to recognize my duties to my fellow-countrymen (that's meant to sound bombastic, FYI) only after articles like these started popping up in Maldivian media. What about the article, you ask? That a hitherto respected component of the Maldivian media should be so biased is what gets to me.
It is almost as if the Minivan News team has become the public relations 'boom-box' (I wanted to use a more savvy term, but none so appropriate popped into mind) for the political left wing. Why? Because I have not seen a single article on Minivan News which comprehensively presents ALL the consequences and repercussions (both pro AND con), on the matter of lowering the voting age to 18 years.
You might think me harsh, but I feel Minivan News has overlooked the fact that the overall social awareness of Maldivians are generally lower than that of other countries - let alone the populace between the age of 18 and 21. That in the last 10 years the education in the country has degraded beyond that of most regional neighbors. That, despite the latter, the country's budget has not apportioned an account for the development of educational and social development programs - while it does surprisingly SPECIFY an account of over 95 million US dollars, over 10% of the total budget, for something literally called 'expenses for economic welfare.' If I were a betting man, I would put a wager on the hunch that a thorough analysis of the adolescents (between ages 18 and 21, specifically) of the country would probably show a decline in their productivity and potential over the last 10 years. Given this, why would you endorse a bill that will put additional pressure on the most vital resources of the nation before they are prepared to undertake the task?
Dear readers, I ask you this: is it not important for the eligible voters of an institution to be aware of (and whole-heartedly welcome) their responsibilities? Should not the educational programs of a country be at par with those of United Kingdom and the United States before we follow their stead in empowering the people (after all, even in their case, education and social awareness preceded the empowerment)? Shouldn't Minivan News be crusading on the subject of education and social awareness before the age of voting? Or is it not responsible, as an entity of Maldivian media, for creating unabridged (and not propagandist) awareness amongst the people on such matters as this minimum voting age dilemma?
To no one in particular: I was surprised to see one of my articles on factmaldives.com, which wasn't altogether thrilling for me. However, this article I hope will be published by just about anyone who wants to!
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8 comments:
Ignoring the implied sarcasm in your title, I must point out that anybody who has attained the universal age of suffrage (18) could hardly be called an adolescent or someone who has just reached puberty.
Your arguments (relating to the lack of social awareness and maturity) are well placed and I feel compelled to agree with you, at least partially. However, it is important to listen to the concerned age group. If they are demanding to vote, citing their obligation to carry arms and emancipation at the age of 18, then lets just assume they are up for the task and grant them this chance to serve their nation. Its a right of an adult citizen, so it really does not matter if they are feeble seventy-year-olds or snot-nosed teenagers. I just turned 21, and I know how they feel about this, trust me.
so ur the guy who submits those stuff to factmaldives.what next?ur bikini clad photos?
as i've always said, if you are trusted with starting a family at 18 then it's old enough to vote.
Dear "wtf",
Do you have the ability to comprehend what you read?
The guy did not SUBMIT his writing to any place. Someone linked to it. Read and UNDERSTAND what you read for the love of god!
Your argument seems to be this:
-People who are eligible for voting in public elections/referenda should have educational awareness of their responsibilities for the society and accept those responsibilities.
-The Maldives population, in general, lack this awareness comparatively. The 18-21 year in particular do not accept their responsibilities.
-Therefore, they should not have the right to vote.
I do not agree with the first statement. The right to vote is not contingent on our general socio-political awareness and fulfilment of social responsibilities. The basic right to vote can only be cancelled if that is the only way we can protect greater basic rights. While our duty (responsibilities) towards one another may be a positive right towards one another, it is not at all clear removing the right to vote is the way, let alone the only way, to protect this positive right. Will the people between 18-21 years only fulfil their social responsibilities if we remove their right to vote?
While educating people on principles of justice is an important thing, the lack of that education in general is not an excuse to flout principles of justice applying to the main social and political institutions. Meaning even if the members of a society in general do not have a sense of justice (so that they do not reasonably fulfil their duties), the institutions should not see that this lack of a sense of justice is an excuse for them to act unjustly. For example, the constitution should provide the right to vote for all adults in general, even if these adults do not act with a sense of justice. The wrongs by the members is not in general and itself an excuse to revoke their rights assigned by these institutions.
I agree we can only achieve a well-ordered society when people are properly educated and when people accept their social responsibilities. But that is not something we an achieve easily, but we should always strive for.
The societies you cited are also not fully well-ordered in this sense. Neither the UK nor the US are perfect examples in this sense. But these societies maybe more well-ordered when you compare with the Maldives.
The fact that these societies did not provide voting rights to sections of their populations is not because these sections in general lacked education which others had and because these sections were deliberating not carrying our their duties. Nor can such denial of basic rights be justified on these grounds as such.
So, all adults, in general, should have this basic right to vote whether or not they are fully cooperating members of the society with respect to other rights and duties.
Moreover, the implications of such revoking of rights based on lack of awareness and irresponsibilities will be drastic. For example, that implies we should decide who can vote, by individually checking if that person has proper education and if that person has carried out social dutities. One can by now imagine the further problems and implications. Will that not call for a centrally coordinated, organised, and dictated political system? But that cannot be democracy with human rights.
Voting at 18 gives responsibility and then power....but educationa nd awareness are key to the whole process...
wisely spoken fenfulhangi, i totally agree with you.
in UK they are now discussing to lower the voting age to 15 , in US 18 + so i believe it's a good move to LOWER the voting age here in the Maldives , but what matters is the system of voting - all i know is it should be free and fare!!!!!
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