My One and Only Political Endorsement

There is at least one major US party candidate running for a statewide office who believes that women should not have the right to vote. The fact that at least 40 percent of the electorate will nevertheless vote for him is staggering, although ultimately it's this attitude about women that will likely sink his campaign. The 19th Amendment passed a little more than a century ago, so most of us can't remember a time, let alone imagine a time, when over half the adult population was banned from the ballot box and this man's irrational ideas will be his undoing in the "free marketplace of ideas."

Contemporaneous opponents of women's suffrage argued that adult women could not be trusted with the vote, insisting that they were not intelligent enough, overly emotional, too easily manipulated, and lacking in the "real world" experience necessary to make rational decisions. When pressed, these opponents got angry, resorted to name calling, and behaved irrationally, just like this modern day candidate for statewide office. 

Previously, the same arguments were made for disenfranchising Black adult men: not intelligent enough, overly emotional, too easily manipulated, and lacking in real world experience. Irrationally, the man running for statewide office is a Black adult man.

I'm simplifying, of course, sexism and racism in America cannot be summed up in a couple of paragraphs, but my point is that to most of us, these arguments are, on their face, bigotry, and fairness demands equal political, economic, and other rights, including a say in our national project of self-governance. At bottom, the women's suffrage movement, like all civil rights movements, was based on notions of fairness.

Every now and then, I float the idea of granting voting rights from birth, meaning that any citizen, no matter their age, have the right to vote. I don't suggest this because I'm hoping to spark a civil rights movement, but rather because I find it both fascinating and worthy of reflection that the primary arguments used to disenfranchise children are almost identical to those used for the disenfranchisement of women and Black adults: not intelligent enough, overly emotional, too easily manipulated, and lacking in real world experience. 

Is it fair that 74 million citizens, over 22 percent of the population, are, by law, left without a direct say in their own governance based on these very same arguments? 

But more to the point, what does it tell us about our attitude, as a society, toward young children? I mean, it's common knowledge that the concerns and needs of children are typically at the bottom of every public policy priority list. One in five of these citizens live in poverty. Childcare is an underfunded and therefore often a make-shift operation. Public spaces are increasingly child-free, and those that aren't ban such necessary childhood needs like running, shouting, singing, and dancing. Increasingly, we've segregated our children into pink collar ghettos like preschools and fenced off playgrounds, and even then people complain about the noise and disorder. This is what always happens to categories of citizens who do not have a say in society. It makes it easier to ignore them.

Generally speaking, the only time children's "issues" get breathing room in our society is when it comes to schooling. Decisions about schools are largely made by policy-makers who were put into office without any input from children (the people most impacted by their decisions), business people who are hoping to turn a profit off the backs of children's labor, and economists (it's always economists) who tend to take a mechanistic (e.g., behaviorist) approach to problem-solving. Actual educators are rarely consulted. Parents, who hopefully have their own children's interests at heart, are our children's best hope for having their point of view represented, but as anyone in education knows, it can be like pulling teeth to get most parents to take an interest in schools beyond the free childcare being proffered. Wouldn't it at least make sense, if we really cared about fairness and are unwilling to grant them a vote, to institute some form of shadow school board comprised of children, who could offer their opinions and ideas? We all know that politicians only respond to two things: money and political pressure. Kids are not legally allowed to have their own money (a topic for another day perhaps), so maybe this would at least give them a modicum of say over the institutions in which they are mandated to spend an outsized part of their early lives?

Yes, young children are developmentally different than adults, but as an adult with over six decades under my belt, let me assure you that we all go through "stages" throughout our lives: development is not just a childhood thing. My wants, needs, and perspectives are today vastly different than those of my, say, 30's or 40's, which means I have different priorities than I once did. But no matter how old I get, no matter how physically and mentally enfeebled I become, even if I'm objectively not intelligent enough, overly emotional, too easily manipulated, and living a life far outside the real world experience of the majority, I cannot be disenfranchised. I know many young children, even preschoolers, who are more mentally and emotionally competent than, say, dementia patients who continue to vote despite their condition. In fact, NASA's own testing finds that 98 percent of five-year-olds qualified as "creative geniuses" (e.g., facile divergent thinkers) whereas only 2 percent of adults do. Wouldn't it be smart to at least try to tap into this amazing developmental capability? 

If you've read this far, you're probably going along with this exercise of reflection, although from past experience I know that some readers are feeling quite angry. And while I do believe that we ought to consider lowering the voting age to something like 16, please know I'm not actually suggesting that we give newborns the vote, but it's instructive, I think, to consider why we don't and what we, and our children, might gain from fuller rights of citizenship. 

In the meantime, as we begin casting our ballots, I'm making my one and only political endorsement for this election cycle. Our children are, by far, the largest segment of US citizens who are disenfranchised, and whether you find this situation tenable or not, they are counting on you to represent them in the voting booth. I endorse asking children about their needs, wants, and dreams. I endorse listening to them. I endorse listening to them not just with your ears, but with your whole self, then allowing their views to influence your own. The decisions we make today are being made, in part, on their behalf, and will have a direct impact on their lives both today and in the future. I endorse considering this obligation to represent children as something sacred. They are, as always, counting on us.

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