Why I love John Stossel

h/t: Radley Balko

The horribly racist, sexist, elitist, and generally evil idea that only white male landowners should vote which was foisted on us by our Founding Fathers wasn't racist, sexist, or elitist at all. Of course, the social mores of their time were all of those things, but the fundamental reason that this requirement was in place was that generally speaking only white male landowners knew what the hell they were talking about. How many women, slaves, natives, or bums of that time do you think knew or cared about freedom of speech or the right to bear arms, to say nothing of such intricacies as negotiations with foreign powers or the federalist vs anti-federalist debate?

It may make me an elitist to say so, but the right to vote should be restricted to people who have a base of knowledge and have tried to educate themselves about the issues. In fact, given that populism has been responsible for some of the worst evils foisted on us by our government, I'll wear an elitist label with pride.