Carson's not intelligent, but it's certainly true there are gifted scientists with an IQ of well above average that would do very well on maths or english or logical reasoning tests but whose opinions on ethical issues were no smarter than the average man in the street.
I'm not suggesting voting rights should be based on intelligence, however. I'm just wondering if there is some way to create a better system so we can stop electing idiots, demagogues, and liars and retain a right of everyone to vote. The idea is to suppress the power of low-intelligence voters indirectly. Whatever new system were in place would perhaps have to be voted in by a referendum of everyone.
It might be possible to create some test for the candidates themselves, that you need x years of political experience to run for President, or you have to pass some basic tests of morality or intelligence to run. Or that you need a certain amount of endorsements from a select pool of people in society (other top politicians, judges, top academics, top businessmen?).
Or perhaps some system where the mass public vote accounts for less than 100% of the vote, but is combined with a vote some type of qualified professionals to produce some total.
How about this: to have the right to vote - you have to pass an online test asking questions about your country, your voting system, and other things. The test would not be hard, but you would have to be willing to spend a few hours reading some materials in order to pass, that could eliminate a certain portion of dumb or lazy people who couldn't be bothered. People that failed the test could be given other opportunties to study and pass it. This could be done online, or in the form of a compulsory college education evening class for citizens.
Similary, for each election, everyone that wanted to vote could be required to read a long document summarizing all the candidates and their views and that having to carry out an online test to see that they really read it which if they pass they then get the right to vote. This might eliminate some people that vote without knowing what they are doing.
If Trump starts a nuclear war with China because he's an idiot, then everyone would look back with the benefit of hindsight and ask how we let it happen and what we could have done differently.
