"N2EY" wrote

So almost anyone who is really interested in being included
in such a poll can get a license, ......

Ah yes, "I got mine, now you get yours; then you can comment"!!!! (Just
when I was looking for a good example of a "sense of self-importance"!)


Not at all.

More like "I'm interested enough in the ARS to join".

Do you place much credence in the political opinions of someone who could
legally vote, but won't even take the time to register?

73 de Jim, N2EY

First off, your analogy is flaccid at best. In order to register to vote, I
generally need only to reveal my place of residence (with evidence like an
ID card, or be vouched for by another person registered to vote in the
jurisdiction). I need not take any written or skills test, nor pay any
examination fee, nor demonstrate any particular knowledge of the issues.
(In fact such impediments to registering/voting used to exist in some
jurisdictions, notably in the south, and are deemed unconstitutional.) It
speaks volumes that you'd suggest such impediments to comment on something
as mundane as regulations regarding a hobby radio service.

Second off, regardless of the applicability of your analogy, I do not judge
a persons political opinion based on whether he/she has taken the time to
register to vote. (I don't even raise that question, because it is
irrelevant to the value I place on their opinion.) I attach credence to
their opinion based on their ability to make well constructed arguments, to
succinctly state their views without resort to emotion or cliché, and
evidence that they may have considered alternate or opposing views.

The fact that you have an amateur license suggests that you will have an
opinion about amateur radio regulation, but it gives no credence in and of
itself whether your opinion is or is not worthy of consideration. Similarly
a non-licensed individual may have an opinion but lack of a license
similarly gives no credence in and of itself whether that opinion is or is
not worthy of consideration.

Thus your "almost anyone who is really interested in being included in such
a poll can get a license" strikes me as just another version of the
discredited practice of 'poll taxes' by which privileged persons attempted
to limit the influence of 'lesser' (in their pecking order) persons in
political affairs.

I don't see how your mileage can vary.

73, de Hans, K0HB