Election day

[unixronin]

To be a citizen in a democracy, representative or direct, is not just a privilege.  It is also a responsibility, to keep that democracy on the right track and see that it does not go astray.  A citizen of that democracy who has the right to vote, who is happy to partake in the privileges, but who cannot be bothered to exercise the responsibility of using their vote, is only half a citizen.

I went out and voted today.  Did you?

(It was an optical-scan paper ballot, by the way.)

Comments

[plutosonium.livejournal.com]

Indeed I did.

I have a friend here who "doesn't care to vote." Her parents never voted, and neither has she. I wish I could think of an argument that would get through to her for why it's important.

[radarrider.livejournal.com]

It's simple. Just tell her, "If you don't vote, you can't bitch." The rest of the argument should flow naturally from there.

[plutosonium.livejournal.com]

Nope. While I was sitting there, flabbergasted, she pointed out that she doesn't bitch. Which is true.

[nephthys510.livejournal.com]

Are they well-informed people? Are they intellectually curious about their country and it's place in the world? Or do they just go with the flow?

If they don't understand the issues and what is going on, I'd rather not have them vote at all.

[plutosonium.livejournal.com]

She's more of a go with the flow type.

However, I personally feel that it's one's civic duty to make one's self aware of the issues at stake and vote. We all have a role in determining the path the country takes.

[ithildae.livejournal.com]

There is a pretty strong case for "rational apathy" in voting. It is along the lines of, your vote doesn't matter in the whole tide of the election, type of thing. It leads to a paradox. If you don't vote because your vote, individually, doesn't matter, fewer people vote, so their ballots have a disproportionate influence.

I just fall back on the privileges and obligations of citizenship. Part of the obligation is voting. But I still sometimes cry singing the national anthem.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

The horrible thought just occurred to me that if enough of the right people didn't bother voting because their individual ballots didn't matter, instead of the slim probability of President Hillary Clinton, we could be looking at President Dianne Feinstein.


I need to go scrub my brain out with bleach now.

[ithildae.livejournal.com]

I'm using lysol! Ewww!

[zaitcev.livejournal.com]

I am not completely convinced that making everyone to vote is desirable. So, someone does not care for their stake in the franchize. That's fine, more is left for me.