Voting

Because the islanders understood that government spending was really the same as taxpayer spending, they believed that it should be the taxpayers who decided how to money was spent. As a result, voting was restricted to those who paid tax.

— Peter Schiff; How an Economy Grows and Why It Crashes

Along the way, some senators made the emotional case that the Constitution's original linkage between tax payment and voting eligibility was fundamentally undemocratic. Out of a spirit of progressivism, this restriction was removed, bringing to the polls a great many voters who were far less interested in government budgetary prudence.

— Peter Schiff; How an Economy Grows and Why It Crashes

Too often voting is conceived as some sort of expressive outlet for the voters, rather than as a solemn responsibility to pick the best people to lead the country. The emphasis is on getting as high a voter turnout as possible, even if that means pulling into the process people who have only the most meager knowledge or interest in the issues at hand.

Such people cannot preserve freedom, or perhaps even survival, in the face of politicians looking out solely for their advantages of the moment.

— Thomas Sowell; Dismantling America