Wes Hunt's rambling denunciation of the ignorant voter was hilarious but misguided. The essence of democracy is choice - including the choice not to participate in the political process or to select the dumbest candidate.
Democracy is about weighing the interests of different stakeholders against each other. Old people feel they have a stake in elections because government actions directly impact their lives through Medicare and Social Security.
For many college students, the outcome of a national election will not bring tangible change to their everyday lives, which is a good justification for not voting. There is nothing responsible about voting just because you can.
I, for one, am glad that voting is not a life-or-death matter for college students. It means we're better shielded from our political decisions than Iraqi civilians are.
By definition of normal distributions and their properties, the average intelligence is mediocre. Having an electorate where the average voter is of (gasp) average intelligence does not condemn us to low political participation, selecting stupid candidates or eventual doom. The forces that lead to the three aforementioned outcomes are cultural, as were the forces that led to Hitler's ascension.
Many "smart" people supported Hitler and many "dumb" people opposed him. There are plenty of reasons why the United States will not elect someone of Hitler's character as president any time soon.
