Universal Suffrage (Voting rights for every citizen). Is it good?

That's a tough one! You have a good point... do they really contribute? Can we take their rights as citizens? That's something to think about.

Anyone of legal age should be able to vote. that way, the whole country gets to choose the best candidates, not just the financially elite who generally have a different agenda then the poor and uneducated. if it wasn't for the poor and uneducated, you would still be forced to work 12 hours days for mere pennies and have absolutely no rights

You can't imagine how relieved I was to check your profiles and see you are both not from the U.S.A.! It would bother me a lot if poor Americans were 'selling" their votes again, like they did during the Great Depression. Teenagers here don't get to vote until they're 18 years old, when they become legal adults. This seems to be a reasonable age for them to be given adult rights and responsibilities. A lot of them don't vote, though, which is sad. It bothers me that Americans take for granted a right that people in other countries have to fight and sometimes die for. Allowing all adults the right to vote is critical to a democracy's long-term survival. Without participation from all levels of society, politics will quickly become nothing more than a social outlet for the very rich. History tells us that this leads to revolution and mass bloodshed. Rather than deny voting rights to the poor and unemployed, it is far, far better to attack the social problems that cause such extreme poverty that people are willing to surrender their one chance to impact their government for a bit of money or something to eat. The poor WILL slip off the leash, it is only a question of when, and how? Brazil would be much better served if you can avoid the bloody revolution scenario. It would make your people an example for all nations to follow, if your society can figure out how to increase the free and informed participation of citizens at all levels, and increase individual freedom without going through a bloody civil war. Brazil is a beautiful country. I've alway been intrigued by the many similarities between Brazilian history and American. Both of our societies struggle with our history of slavery, and the racism that has come from it, and we also struggle with the proper place for the poor in today's society. I hope to be able to visit your wonderful land one day. Thank you for the interesting insight into one of the problems you folks are dealing with. Be well!