Economic Understanding should be Acquired Before Exercising Union/Voting Powers

Today, there are evident flaws in our system of democracy. These flaws are exemplified by the bankruptcy of Greece. To win votes, politicians must "bribe" citizens with promises, and often times, these promises place heavy strains on the country"s economy. Today"s citizens want higher wages, better welfare, less working time, and lower taxes - often simultaneously. Evidently, this is impossible. The government borrows heavily to finance the spending. This spending is unsustainable. Eventually, investors will realize that the country"s debt to GDP ratio is unsustainable. They will sell their bonds en masse. Bond prices will plunge, interest rates will spike, and the currency will crash. In the words of Barry Eichengreen, "if this happened all at once, the results could be devastating". To illustrate this, in 2013 the unemployment rate of Greece and Spain were over 25%. Austerity measures are implemented and governments must cut spending, which means cutting jobs and reducing pay. The people, in their wisdom, riot and go on strike during a recession (Yes, the very people who were lucky enough to retain their job). That"s what happened in many European countries, Canada, and the United States during the Great Recession. The pain is so great that Bloomberg declared it "politically impossible" to pay off the debt. Politicians are tied to the voters; they must promise voters benefits. And as long as voters are ignorant of the true well-being of the country, the country can never prosper over the long term. Eventually, its false prosperity will collapse, and poverty will take its place. Another incident of sheer idiocy occurred during the Great Recession in Windsor, Ontario. Union workers went on strike because their payroll took a dip. These were workers who were earning $28-30 dollars/hour. In the end, these enlightened people not only didn"t get their increase in pay, but lost their jobs as well. The United States $17.075 trillion debt is further evidence of the ignorance of the American Public. Mr. Obama, who promises better welfare for the poor, continues America"s exorbitant spending. Ironically, those who shout out "human rights" and demand a long list of benefits from politicians and governments are denying future generations those rights. One of the problems is that today, many Westerners do not understand concepts of finance of economy. 34% of the people in a survey did not even know how long it would be before they would be out of debt. Polls have shown that many Americans do not even know what government deficit is. I believe one way we could circumvent these problems would be to make financial and economic literacy a mandatory prerequisite before being able to vote or exercise voting problems. This requirement would eliminate politicians" outrageous promises, as they now have to meet the demands of a more worldly-wise audience. For union workers, having economic and financial understanding will not only protect themselves from their own follies, but also the economic securities of future generations as well as the general well-being of society. For instance, going on strike during a recession will cause the economy to spiral further downward. (Workers on strike have less money to spend and businesses will lose money as they see the number of their consumers decrease. This in turn will cause businesses to cut more workers.) Today, in most countries, there are age restrictions regarding voting. These restrictions are in place because most 10 year olds do not understand worldly issues. The fact that most Americans are as ignorant of economics as when they were young means that new restrictions should be imposed. Basic economics and financial in voters and union workers can help the country prosper, and in turn the individual will prosper. https://www.google.ca... http://rt.com... http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com... http://www.cardfellow.com... http://www.businessinsider.com... Barry Eichengreen"s book Exorbitant Privilege