I saw the following video posted on reddit. This is an SNL skit from the last week or so.
The joke is that low-intelligence individuals vote. But they are stupid and make bad decisions. Presumably, the intended audience is an individual who considers themselves to be of above-average intelligence. “Uh oh,” they think, “Stupid people vote and make bad decisions. I had better also vote so that not-stupid preferences are represented.”
It’s a joke, I realize. Many funny lines too (the robot one, “volt,” super funny). And I’m not going to expend much mental energy or worry on this. But the joke is that democracy incorporates individuals who should not be active participants. Your fellow citizens are not intellectually fit to participate but ridiculous rules allow their voices to count equally to yours. Or at minimum, intelligent individuals mustn’t abdicate their democratic responsibilities, lest the less mentally fit overwhelm the system.
(see highly ranked comments to get a sense of its reception among its intended audience)
Here are a few things.
We in fact had such restrictions in place for a very long time to make sure that the right kinds of people with the right kinds of qualities would hold the vote. Is SNL perhaps suggesting that some kind of reading comprehension, or literacy, test requirement be in place for voting? Perhaps only those with the mental acumen to purchase and hold property are sufficiently mentally fit to vote? Perhaps only those with the skills to acquire some kind of voting id card should be allowed into the ballot box? (I feel gross writing these things. But they’re in line with the spirit of the skit, as far as I can tell).
I’m not going to go into this point too much. But education social science research shows that family background is a big predictor of things like GPA and SAT scores. Things which folks often argue reflect, proxy, or correlate with some broader idea of intelligence or competence. It’s not too much of a stretch to say: this sketch is arguing that children from poor families can vote. So make sure their voices don’t win out in the democratic process.
I took a 2-minute google search. And aside from Michael Che, it seems that the main writers of SNL attended such schools as NYU, Yale, and Harvard. SNL is pretty solidly aligned with the Democratic party. But I’m old enough to remember when “Ivy Leaguer says the filthy underclass isn’t sufficiently fit for public participation” was a right-wing, not left-wing, caricature.
It’s a joke from a tv show that has, from what I can tell, fallen from grace (or maybe the stupid jokes from Tina Fey and Adam Sandler are overwhelmed by the nostalgic glow of my youth). It’s not a big deal. It does, though, reflect somewhat perfectly the broader trend of education polarization that is occurring not just among white individuals, but nonwhite racial groups too. Perhaps I should expect more of this kind of viewpoint, or these kinds of proverbial calls coming from inside the proverbial house, as the left increasingly aligns with those with a degree and the right aligns with those without.