On Political Authority

One of the ideas that has been rattling about in the remnant of my brain is that a mere warm body should not exercise political authority. I acquired this thought from reading Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein about a decade before picking up anything written by Ayn Rand.  The fact is that all forms of authority are based on knowledge and political authority is no exception.

But in the present system political authority is granted to any warm body without any regard to their the actual state of knowledge.  As a result some warm bodies have traded their votes for a material object such as an IPad or a wad of cash.  Or worse they've traded their votes for the warm and fuzzy feeling of having been compassionate.  The result is out present state of our nation. Those who lack knowledge or simple concern for consequences should not have authority over another person, let alone the fate of a nation.  Heinlein's proposed solution to the problem is relatively easy to look up for yourself.  Or you can purchase a copy of Starship Troopers from Ace Books.  My solution to the problem is simply proper education in the obligations of citizenship.  The course would be similar to a driver education course as presently taught.  The first part of the class covers The Constitution, the proper functions of each branch of government, the function of each clause and amendment, the duties of the citizen as the sovereign authority of the nation, and what happened when the Federal Government was allowed to enter the failure mode.  The second part of the course covers the function and use of the instrument of political authority, the personal weapon.  This covers rifle marksmanship and maintenance.  Also covered is the basic organization and tactics of the citizen militia unit.

While the citizenship course won't be mandatory, completion and a passing grade will be required to exercise the authority to vote.