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Wednes Writes, about the Right to vote.
Let me begin by saying that the election results are great. I'm excited for a minimum wage increase, although it's not gonna do me much good until I actually find a job. Because all wages will go up in the process--maybe not as much as they should, but they'll go up.
What I want to mention though, is the vitriol I'm hearing toward people who choose not to vote. It was all over the TV (even Mtv), all over my flist, and the internets in general. Apparently you suck, you should be ashamed of yourself, and you have no right to be dissatisfied with the current regime if you did not vote.
I don't mind telling you that I think all that is bullshit.
And as I was just saying yesterday, that attitude further divides and polarizes us as Americans.
1. People who are not informed on the issues should not vote. In fact, they are largely responsible for fucking things up. And by "informed" I don't mean that you've seen all the ads. I mean informed by non-partisan information, or at least all the varied partisan info you can find.
2. A right is not the same as an obligation. Voting is a personal choice, like having an abortion or coming out. The real trouble begins when we start telling others that they need to do what we do, because we're totally right and they're totally wrong. People, why do I even need to explain this? And yeah, it's probably true that plenty of people are too apathetic, frustrated, or plain lazy to vote. And you know what? That's none of anyone else's business. Just do your thing and stay out of my beeswax!
3. I did happen to vote, since the Dick DeVos people were giving out rides to the old and/or lazy...and me. FYI, I did not, nor would I ever have, voted for Dick DeVos. In fact, here's a not-so loving good bye to DeVos, Rick Santorum (I shall miss mocking you, sir), Donald "Rummy" Rumsfeld, and the scores of other fascists I'm forgetting. *waves with cupped hand like in the parade*
4. We should try not to hate people who disagree. I have as much trouble trying to reasonably disagree as many of you, but that really should be our goal. I oppose affirmative action, and I've found very few people who can respectfully disagree with me. I've been called every kind of rascist, conservative, bigot in the world. But you know what? Bill Clinton doesn't support it either, and he's awesome. Bush supporters make me mad and frustrated as hell, but hating them just takes up too much of my day, seriously.
5. I find it difficult to argue the point that voting is just a game straight, white, christian, land owning males play with eachother in order to fool the proles (that's us) into thinking we have some input on this shit. Why aren't we voting on where to spend taxes where it counts? Why don't we have legal pot and national healthcare? Because no one gives a damn what the average citizen needs or wants. We stood by helplessly while a man most of us didn't vote for destroyed our woldwide credibility, ignored americans during life threatening crises, and feigned ignorance before the world about what is and is not torture. There was nothing we could do about it, because we have no power. And that's with me voting every time...
So I can see where people are coming from when they make their choice not to vote.
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How about this, how about you send out memo's so we can all be aware when you change your mind on topics from week to week. I cant' tell you how many irate government related phone messages I've gotten from you in the past. Never once did you mention that this was caused by a lack of voting. No...it was all about Bush being an ass, being stupid, being a liar, etc.
Maybe you'd like to deny ever saying you were pro-life as well?
And yes, as I have already stated numerous times, I find your bullying behavior intolerable--which means I don't tolerate it. This is why I respond each and every time, I can't stand to let bullies get away with their bullying bullshit.
I simply don't see how voting "can and does" work in the face of rampant fraud? Did you hear that on NPR or something?
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I have never in my life supported a law banning abortion. I have, on occasion, tried to explain to people that the pro-life argument for such a law is not totally irrational.
My behavior has not been bullying.
I never said that voting works in the face of rampant fraud. If you must quote me then please do it in context. I said that it can and does work despite fraud. If election fraud can't be overcome by an educated conscientious electorate then voting has always been and will always be a sham.
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http://nate101000.livejournal.com/38711.html
I am unclear on what statements you consider inflammatory, nor do I understand how you would define your behavior, if not bullying.
If election fraud can't be overcome by an educated conscientious electorate then voting has always been and will always be a sham.
Well, yes. That's what I've been saying all along.
It's a fucking sham.
And if the electoral fraud we've experienced is not rampant, I cannot imagine what you would consider rampant to be. More than 5K dead people voted in Detroit's last mayoral election, while hundreds more were turned away from the polls. And that's just one election in a city most people don't even care about.
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"I have this capacity to reexamine my behavior in the face of evidence to the contrary. You might try it some time."
"How about this, how about you send out memo's so we can all be aware when you change your mind on topics from week to week."
Not only do these statements have nothing to do with the discussion at hand, they can only serve to antagonize me.
I have been respectfully disagreeing with you. Exactly what have I done that is bullying?
So all voting everywhere is a sham? I don't see that the evidence supporting that. Some elections have been shams, that doesn't invalidate all of them.
I'm not saying that the last Detroit election wasn't rampant fraud, it was. And so was the 2000 presidential election.
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I don't understand how voting can be both a fraudulent sham and still be the key to change. IMHO they are mutually exclusive.
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Still, it's a gross oversimplification to say that people who don't vote are responsible for the horrors that go on in contemporary government. In fact, calling the non-voters more culpable that the actual perpetrators lets an awful lot of very bad men off the hook for their deeds.
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