Oded Arbel: Time travel and voting in elections
Oded Arbel calls on people to vote in the elections on October 27, using the metaphor of a time traveler from 1900 to illustrate the historical revolution of universal suffrage. The article reviews the struggles of women, the propertyless, and Jews to achieve the right to vote, and warns that rights are not self-evident and can be lost.
Oded Arbel addresses those undecided about whether to vote in the elections on October 27, offering them a 'time travel' from the perspective of a person from 1900. He argues that one of the greatest changes since 1900 is not technological but democratic: the right of every citizen to participate in determining who rules them. The article reviews the history of suffrage: women in New Zealand and South Australia were the first to receive it; in Finland in 1906; in Britain in 1918 (partial) and 1928 (full); in France in 1944; in Italy in 1945; in Greece in 1952; and in Switzerland only in 1971. Propertyless men also fought for the right, and in Britain until 1918 about 40% of adult men could not vote. For European Jews, an additional anti-Semitic hurdle was added: Lionel de Rothschild was not allowed to serve in the British Parliament until 1858 due to a Christian oath; in Romania, Jews were denied citizenship until 1923; and in Germany, Jewish rights were revoked by the Nuremberg Laws of 1935. Arbel concludes that the right to vote is not conditional on perfect candidates, and voting ensures that others do not have the exclusive right to determine who rules us. He warns that rights are not a law of nature and can be lost, as the 20th century proved.