Obama was supposed to have energized “the youth” of this country like no other presidential candidate ever. We were assured that with Obama as president we’d see a revitalization of “the youth” that would respond by streaming to volunteer for public service. And, in expectation of this avalanche of volunteers, and in build-it-they-will-come mode, Obama had passed through Congress his brown-shirt-like Serve America Act that pumped some $6 billion of our tax money into an upgraded national and community service program.

But the youth have failed him. According to Peter Levine, director of Tufts University’s Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement (CIRCLE) youth volunteering has dropped for the first time sine 9/11.

Of course, I am making light of the situation, here, admittedly. But, let’s look at something that goes against the Obama line of mythology as far as his real support among America’s youth goes. Let’s face it, it isn’t just Obama. The vaunted youth vote has been in steady decline since 18-year-olds were given the vote by a mistaken act of Congress in 1972.

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 A few days ago, several RS contributors discussed how and why the U.S. should consider restricting the “franchise,” i.e. the right to vote.  This semi-unserious discussion was triggered by a recent Rasmussen survey showing that only 53% of Americans believe that capitalism is preferable to socialism.  In fact, this survey shows that for those under 30, it’s almost a dead heat - 37% prefer capitalism, but 33% prefer socialism.  This is a stunning outcome, and it seems to reflect a fundamental disconnect from the responsibilities of citizenship in a free country.

I’ve often stated that a person begins the journey towards conservatism the first time they see the huge chunk of taxes that the government confiscates from their paycheck.  Conversely, the trip towards liberalism begins when the government giveaways kick in.  Today, tens of millions of Americans do not pay income taxes* - and many receive welfare tax credits in addition to not paying* in the first place.  These government junkies have become indentured servants of the US Government and are chained to leftist political giveaways such as Obama’s proposed “tax credits” that pay even those who owe no income tax.

So, it appears that the only citizens who are truly invested in the process of government without indebtedness to politicans are those who are taxed.  This taxation may be property ownership and property taxes, but it seems that restricting the franchise to property owners may be too restrictive - after all, there are many “invested” taxpayers who live in apartments or other non-property-owning situations.  So I’ve argued that any restriction of the “franchise” should be applied to paying income taxes. 

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