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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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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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