Agent23
Ни шагу назад!
Frankly, I think that paying more into a system than you take out of that system is enough proof of skin in the game, and enough for you to "earn" a place in the system.Regardless of what was meant in that post: that is very much how it is in the book. Heinlein explicitly mentions that people who live there have every right that a citizen has, except the right to vote or to hold office. Citizenship is reserved to those who have served, and the franchise is exclusively reserved for citizens.
For the rights and advantages that come from simple residency (e.g. freedom of expression, right to a fair trial, use of whatever public amenities...), you pay with your taxes. For the right to vote, you pay with the service. And nobody is pressed into service. You can just refuse, lead your life, not be hindered in anyway. You just won't get the franchise, because you didn't do what it takes to earn it.
(That last bit is why all leftists hate the idea. It involves having to earn something.)
Yes, hence my comment about "skin in the game".And because you earn it, you cherish it more.
Whatifalthist actually goes into some detail about the sentiments that drive civilizations, and he, like me stresses the point that voting and democracy came out of being part of the tribal war band:
Furthermore, a more limited franchise was the norm until recently, and frankly, I think that you can get much better decisions if you limit the franchise to only the net tax payers, who will be more careful about their taxes not being squandered or freedoms curtailed.
Let us not forget how oligarchies and bureaucracies have historically used the mob of useful idiots to get themselves more power.
A man chooses, a slave obeys, and most of the low IQ, parasitic social dregs of society are slaves to the media and their own stupidity.