# I live in the US, but I don't vote. Never have, never will. Ask Me Anything if you want. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 8, 2016, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-the-us-but-i-dont-vote-never-have-never-will-ask-me-anything-if-you-want/771059 "2016-11-08T13:49:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-the-us-but-i-dont-vote-never-have-never-will-ask-me-anything-if-you-want/771059/161 "2016-11-08T20:44:09Z")
[Here’s a must-read article](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/11/08/the-world-holds-its-breath-and-its-nose.html) that reminded me of this thread. Fans of democracy around the world see this election not just as America’s loss, but the world’s. It’s as though the Grand Experiment in Democracy has proven to be a failure. What-s the connection to OP? [INDENT]“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”[/INDENT][INDENT][INDENT][INDENT][INDENT] - Edmund Burke[/INDENT][/INDENT][/INDENT][/INDENT] ---
**Author:** ![purplehearingaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@purplehearingaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehearingaid)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-the-us-but-i-dont-vote-never-have-never-will-ask-me-anything-if-you-want/771059/162 "2016-11-08T20:47:28Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > My friend, please go read what Ana Navarro had to say about voting in this election. After you read it, tell me if it changes your mind. > > [http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/07/opinions/navarro-republican-voting-for-clinton/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/07/opinions/navarro-republican-voting-for-clinton/index.html) > > Please vote. You can do it by mail, it’s really easy. The OP not registered to vote . ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-the-us-but-i-dont-vote-never-have-never-will-ask-me-anything-if-you-want/771059/163 "2016-11-08T20:48:25Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Not voting is basically saying "I want everyone else to do the work of a civil society - I can’t be bothered to understand the issues or get my ass off the couch. But sure as hell I will bitch and complain about “the government”. I don’t complain about the government. > [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > To the OP: > > I am curious as to what your view is on other elements of collective responsibility, > > Examples: > Littering: you throwing your individual burger wrapper out the window won’t ruin the view, but if everyone did it it would be bad. > Conservation/recycling: One person won’t have any affect on the environment but everyone reducing energy use could make a big difference. > > Along similar lines I would be interested in your response to this post > Since this seems to be an accurate description of your view. Other people vote, so you don’t have to. Well, I don’t litter and I recycle, so those are bad examples, although I get where you’re coming with it. I don’t really care what other people do. I don’t control their actions. If others choose not to vote, I wouldn’t care or be upset over it. > [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > AKA: “I’m ignorant, and sort of proud of it. I don’t plan on learning anything new in my life, even if it’s important.” > Keep on waving your proud ignorance flag. More like “It’s an area of interest I have no interest in, just like some people don’t like sports”. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-the-us-but-i-dont-vote-never-have-never-will-ask-me-anything-if-you-want/771059/164 "2016-11-08T20:50:52Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > I don’t even care whether he votes. A lot of people don’t. But why is it threadworthy? Why do posters create threads to announce that they’re ignorant and like it that way? Or to boast about some asshole thing they did, like stiffing a delivery driver for some petty non-reason? Not everything needs to be shared; in fact, quite the opposite. > > For example: the other day I was pissing at a urinal and the end of my belt slipped down and got splashed with urine. I had to rinse it off in the sink, hoping nobody would walk in and see me. Did I come here to tell everyone about it? NO! I mean, not until now… Well people obviously care enough to respond don’t they. I wonder if all the YOU MUST VOTE people really mean you must vote the way I want you to. Would you be encouraging Idle Thoughts to vote if you knew he would vote for candidates you don’t like? Or is this advocating of democracy and civic participation conditional? ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-the-us-but-i-dont-vote-never-have-never-will-ask-me-anything-if-you-want/771059/165 "2016-11-08T20:56:31Z")
Interesting, if saddening thread. **Idle Thoughts** , given that you have chosen to not vote, would you extend that choice to every other person in a ‘democracy’? And if that were the case, and everyone refrained from voting, would you be comfortable living in a dictatorship? See, if politics (etc) holds zero interest for you, you shouldn’t care what style of government you live under. And further, no matter how evil/despotic/malign your dictator, it wouldn’t matter to you at all…is that right? ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-the-us-but-i-dont-vote-never-have-never-will-ask-me-anything-if-you-want/771059/166 "2016-11-08T21:10:07Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > This is a pretty extreme view, though. Do you really think that a president is going to be elected that will take freedom away from all US citizens and lock them up? I don’t know much about politics, but I know that the president doesn’t have total power/control and that there are other areas of the government to prevent one from going power mad… Look, if you wanna say “I don’t know, I don’t want to know, and I don’t care”, that’s your business. But if that’s truly the case, you don’t get to say “I know it’s probably gonna be fine either way.” You’ve stated and demonstrated that you really do know NOTHING, so just stick with that. The reason I say this, if you have any idle curiosity, is that the system of checks and balances you mentioned is in an alarming state of disrepair. And contrary to what you think you know, the US Presidency is a dangerously overpowered political structure that wields a terrifying amount of unchecked power, both in the form of direct and indirect action. I’m not asking you to care, I just wanted to explain the nerve you struck with the above post. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-the-us-but-i-dont-vote-never-have-never-will-ask-me-anything-if-you-want/771059/167 "2016-11-08T21:16:32Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > Note that GWB’s military mistakes cost _millions_ of lives “Millions” plural? Cite please? ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-the-us-but-i-dont-vote-never-have-never-will-ask-me-anything-if-you-want/771059/168 "2016-11-08T21:20:13Z")
> [@Askthepizzaguy](#): > > Switzerland didn’t stand up to the nazis. Doesn’t make them evil. Gandhi wouldn’t have either, and I consider him quite moral. Switzerland had certain territorial advantages that Gandhi didn’t. In Gandhi v the Nazis, what do you think would have happened? One moral dead guy, that’s what. Nazis didn’t give a fuck about hunger strikes. Assuming they bothered to let him starve to death in the first place and didn’t just shoot him. Holy shit is this a false equivalency anyway. OP isn’t saying he’s neutral or a pacifist. Quite the opposite. He’s saying he doesn’t care. He is apathetic. Ignorant and proud to be so. Of course he can hold that position, but he hasn’t defended it other than to state, again, that he doesn’t care. That’s not circular really. It’s singular. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-the-us-but-i-dont-vote-never-have-never-will-ask-me-anything-if-you-want/771059/169 "2016-11-08T21:21:10Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > **Snowboarder Bo** , I don’t know how to better answer your question than I already have. You didn’t answer my question at all. What you did was offer a list of things you claim to “care about”. Do you care about any people or pets in your life? Is that limited to being interested in them and learning about them\*, or does it also carry over into actively aiding and abetting their lives? - I did see that you gave this answer to **Ravenman**. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-the-us-but-i-dont-vote-never-have-never-will-ask-me-anything-if-you-want/771059/170 "2016-11-08T21:26:37Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > I wonder if all the YOU MUST VOTE people really mean you must vote the way I want you to. Would you be encouraging Idle Thoughts to vote if you knew he would vote for candidates you don’t like? Or is this advocating of democracy and civic participation conditional? I think [this explains](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_projection)why you may think this way. ---
**Author:** ![Zeke\_N.Destroi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/4af34b/32.png) [@Zeke\_N.Destroi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeke_N.Destroi)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-the-us-but-i-dont-vote-never-have-never-will-ask-me-anything-if-you-want/771059/171 "2016-11-08T21:27:30Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > I was going to make this in Elections, but then I thought “Yeah, but there will be a majority who will probably not like this (my viewpoint and the fact that I think and feel this way), so I figure I’ll let everyone have the chance to speak freely, even if it’s just to bash me.” > > Anyway, my sole reason is, I simply don’t care who is president. > Voting is a right. That’ why it’s called the “Right to vote”. So, by that same token, I have the right not to vote as well. The way I see it, I am free and allowed to give up my right to vote if I so choose. > > I have never voted before. I’m not even registered. I can’t foresee a time when I will vote. I just have a huge indifference when it comes to all things and every thing political. I have no caring in any of it whatsoever. > > If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask. The point of this is to let people ask questions and explore the mind/opinion/viewpoints of someone who is so indifferent to politics that they don’t bother having their say and to try to understand my reasoning… > …However, if you just want to insult me or pile on due to thinking I’m one of the most evil people that exists due to the fact that I don’t care to vote, well…that’s fine too, but it probably won’t receive a reply. I’ve read the whole thread and, as is to be expected around here, it is a bunch of sanctimony and gang-bang holier-than-thouism. But you saw that coming. I’ve not missed an election (save for school board ☹ ) since I became eligible. I pride myself on that and I’m trying to raise my kids to hold their franchise sacred. But that is me. I get not caring about politics - although I think, to quote Heinlein, that it is “just slightly less important than breathing.” I get that you figure your vote doesn’t matter much. Shit man, by the time the polls close in my province the news is already telling me who won. I think you are part of an important and utterly neglected demographic. The “I don’t give a shit about politics because I don’t give a shit about politics contingent.” After every election there is much hand wringing and over-paid / over-played navel gazing about why voter turnout is so low and what can we do to fix it. They trot out “disillusionment”, “disenfranchisement”, “overall dissatisfaction”, “draconian laws passed by assholes designed to prevent those who do want to vote from voting” but they never address your group. I think your group is in the majority. This is just a hunch and I can provide no cites for it. See all of those things that they impotently discuss before and after every cycle require engagement on some level. No one who was truly apathetic about a situation ever felt disillusioned. Why? Because you have to have been illusioned in the first place. Same goes for every other group but yours. You can’t be pissed about something you never gave a fuck about in the first place. Here’s an example - I love mixed martial arts. I was an avid fan before anyone knew it existed. I am passionately angry about the ongoing problems with judging, reffing and weight cutting in MMA. Are you? Nope. Why not? 'Cuz you don’t give a shit. And that is your right. Just like freedom of religion means freedom from religion the right to vote means the right to not vote for whatever fucking reason you choose. Uninterest is just as valid a reason as any other and requires no justification. Now, all these people who are giving you shit ought to be stepping back, swallowing the self-righteousness and then realizing that they should be thanking you. You not voting makes their vote just a little bit more powerful. Rather than their vote being one out of a million theirs is now one out of 999,999. Your lack of interest has given them more power. “What if Trump wins and you didn’t vote?” Then Trump fucking wins. The Trump people will thank you for not voting for Hilary and not give a tinker’s dam if you didn’t vote for Trump - he won. Same on the other side. See, all this shit they’ve been feeding you is just a way of feeding their own ego. It is transparent self-aggrandizement. So you do you man (or woman - I really don’t know) and rest secure in the knowledge that a great man heartily supports your decision. [George Carlin on Voting - obviously not safe for work](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIraCchPDhk) Zeke ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-the-us-but-i-dont-vote-never-have-never-will-ask-me-anything-if-you-want/771059/172 "2016-11-08T21:31:09Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > Switzerland had certain territorial advantages that Gandhi didn’t. In Gandhi v the Nazis, what do you think would have happened? One moral dead guy, that’s what. Nazis didn’t give a fuck about hunger strikes. Assuming they bothered to let him starve to death in the first place and didn’t just shoot him. Reminds me of [The Last Article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Article)by Harry Turtledove. A story that has stuck with me… ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-the-us-but-i-dont-vote-never-have-never-will-ask-me-anything-if-you-want/771059/173 "2016-11-08T21:38:18Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > I think [this explains](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_projection)why you may think this way. You obviously have poor reading comprehension or are just dishonest. I’ve clearly stated in multiple posts I don’t care who Idle Thoughts votes for or if he votes at all. Contrast that with all the other people wishing Idle Thoughts votes for the _outcome_ they’d like. Try being objective for once. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-the-us-but-i-dont-vote-never-have-never-will-ask-me-anything-if-you-want/771059/174 "2016-11-08T21:40:23Z")
> [@Zeke\_N.Destroi](#): > > I’ve read the whole thread and, as is to be expected around here, it is a bunch of sanctimony and gang-bang holier-than-thouism. But you saw that coming. > > I’ve not missed an election (save for school board ☹ ) since I became eligible. I pride myself on that and I’m trying to raise my kids to hold their franchise sacred. But that is me. > > I get not caring about politics - although I think, to quote Heinlein, that it is “just slightly less important than breathing.” I get that you figure your vote doesn’t matter much. Shit man, by the time the polls close in my province the news is already telling me who won. > > I think you are part of an important and utterly neglected demographic. The “I don’t give a shit about politics because I don’t give a shit about politics contingent.” > > After every election there is much hand wringing and over-paid / over-played navel gazing about why voter turnout is so low and what can we do to fix it. They trot out “disillusionment”, “disenfranchisement”, “overall dissatisfaction”, “draconian laws passed by assholes designed to prevent those who do want to vote from voting” but they never address your group. I think your group is in the majority. This is just a hunch and I can provide no cites for it. > > See all of those things that they impotently discuss before and after every cycle require engagement on some level. No one who was truly apathetic about a situation ever felt disillusioned. Why? Because you have to have been illusioned in the first place. Same goes for every other group but yours. You can’t be pissed about something you never gave a fuck about in the first place. > > Here’s an example - I love mixed martial arts. I was an avid fan before anyone knew it existed. I am passionately angry about the ongoing problems with judging, reffing and weight cutting in MMA. Are you? Nope. Why not? > > 'Cuz you don’t give a shit. > > And that is your right. Just like freedom of religion means freedom from religion the right to vote means the right to not vote for whatever fucking reason you choose. Uninterest is just as valid a reason as any other and requires no justification. > > Now, all these people who are giving you shit ought to be stepping back, swallowing the self-righteousness and then realizing that they should be thanking you. You not voting makes their vote just a little bit more powerful. Rather than their vote being one out of a million theirs is now one out of 999,999. Your lack of interest has given them more power. > > “What if Trump wins and you didn’t vote?” Then Trump fucking wins. The Trump people will thank you for not voting for Hilary and not give a tinker’s dam if you didn’t vote for Trump - he won. Same on the other side. > > See, all this shit they’ve been feeding you is just a way of feeding their own ego. It is transparent self-aggrandizement. > > So you do you man (or woman - I really don’t know) and rest secure in the knowledge that a great man heartily supports your decision. > > [George Carlin on Voting - obviously not safe for work](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIraCchPDhk) > > Zeke I think it’s partially that voting might be too easy that people take it for granted. When you have to work and sacrifice for something you value it more. ---
**Author:** ![grayhairedmomma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/47e85d/32.png) [@grayhairedmomma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grayhairedmomma)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-the-us-but-i-dont-vote-never-have-never-will-ask-me-anything-if-you-want/771059/175 "2016-11-08T21:49:21Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > I wonder if all the YOU MUST VOTE people really mean you must vote the way I want you to. Would you be encouraging Idle Thoughts to vote if you knew he would vote for candidates you don’t like? Or is this advocating of democracy and civic participation conditional? For me, it is important for everyone who can vote to do so, because I want to know what the true level of support is for a particular viewpoint or issue. When people don’t vote, it’s hard to know whether support for something is lukewarm, middling, or strong. For example, in the last few election cycles, the Tea Party was able to gain a substantial foothold in the Republican party, IMO because a lot of moderate Republicans stayed home and didn’t vote in local elections - believing like the OP that their vote wouldn’t make a difference. So, then TeaPartiers believed that they had the support of their districts and they began pushing policies and rhetoric that most people in their district really don’t want. The squeaky wheel doesn’t always have to get the grease. Also, IMO, when you don’t come out and vote (whatever side you’re on) you’re encouraging the polarization of politics. If everyone who could vote did so, maybe it would be easier to get a third party off the ground. If during this election in particular, 100% of eligible voters voted, then it would be okay for a certain percentage of people to vote for Stein and Johnson, without the fear that Trump/Clinton will lose because of it. Then we could actually start to talk about the views that Stein and Johnson espouse and what it is about them that is attractive to a substantial portion of the population. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-the-us-but-i-dont-vote-never-have-never-will-ask-me-anything-if-you-want/771059/176 "2016-11-08T21:50:24Z")
I am disappointed in people who don’t make the effort to vote, but it is their choice. However it’s the complete certainty that it just doesn’t matter coupled with no interest in finding out if it does, that boggles my mind. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-the-us-but-i-dont-vote-never-have-never-will-ask-me-anything-if-you-want/771059/177 "2016-11-08T22:19:01Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > Well, I don’t litter and I recycle, so those are bad examples, although I get where you’re coming with it. Why do you recycle? I can guarantee you one aluminum can more or less in the land fill won’t make a lick of difference, yet you feel the need to make this effort. Why? ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-the-us-but-i-dont-vote-never-have-never-will-ask-me-anything-if-you-want/771059/178 "2016-11-08T22:20:08Z")
I will look at the 72,305,996 votes Hillary got and know that without my effort, she would have had a mere 72,305,995. My vote counted and, I got another “I voted” sticker for the side of my desk. So many stickers that they’ve started peeling off. ---
**Author:** ![Zeke\_N.Destroi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/4af34b/32.png) [@Zeke\_N.Destroi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeke_N.Destroi)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-the-us-but-i-dont-vote-never-have-never-will-ask-me-anything-if-you-want/771059/179 "2016-11-08T22:29:14Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > I think it’s partially that voting might be too easy that people take it for granted. When you have to work and sacrifice for something you value it more. Horseshit. Look, I’ve never sacrificed anything to vote. I’ve never worked for it. I was born into a free country that has rarely taken up arms in my lifetime and then, usually, it was in the name keeping peace in other countries ( **keeping** not **forcing** ). I vote because when people gave the message about its importance it resonated with me and I’m a patriot. I love my country and I feel it is my duty to vote. Others don’t feel that way. C’est la vie. It has nothing to do with “well you don’t appreciate it because you didn’t work for it.” It has everything to do with “it’s not meaningful to you because you didn’t sacrifice or work for it.” What percentage of those who do vote do you think sacrificed or worked for it? And don’t say, “well my daddy fought in the war.” That’s your dad’s sacrifice not yours. By that same logic every self-entitled prick whose dad worked his ass off to build a fortune ought appreciate everything they have. Reality does not bear this out. > [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > I am disappointed in people who don’t make the effort to vote, but it is their choice. However it’s the complete certainty that it just doesn’t matter coupled with no interest in finding out if it does, that boggles my mind. Where do you get off being “disappointed in” anyone that isn’t your kid, partner or friend? Disappointed **that** people don’t vote is different and perfectly fair but “disappointed in” assumes that you have the right to cast judgement upon them. Do you? If so then from where does that right derive precisely? ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-the-us-but-i-dont-vote-never-have-never-will-ask-me-anything-if-you-want/771059/180 "2016-11-08T22:38:53Z")
> [@Zeke\_N.Destroi](#): > > Horseshit. > > Look, I’ve never sacrificed anything to vote. I’ve never worked for it. I was born into a free country that has rarely taken up arms in my lifetime and then, usually, it was in the name keeping peace in other countries ( **keeping** not **forcing** ). > > I vote because when people gave the message about its importance it resonated with me and I’m a patriot. I love my country and I feel it is my duty to vote. Others don’t feel that way. C’est la vie. > > It has nothing to do with “well you don’t appreciate it because you didn’t work for it.” It has everything to do with “it’s not meaningful to you because you didn’t sacrifice or work for it.” > > What percentage of those who do vote do you think sacrificed or worked for it? And don’t say, “well my daddy fought in the war.” That’s your dad’s sacrifice not yours. By that same logic every self-entitled prick whose dad worked his ass off to build a fortune ought appreciate everything they have. Reality does not bear this out. > > Where do you get off being “disappointed in” anyone that isn’t your kid, partner or friend? > > Disappointed **that** people don’t vote is different and perfectly fair but “disappointed in” assumes that you have the right to cast judgement upon them. > > Do you? If so then from where does that right derive precisely? Just because a reason doesn’t apply to you doesn’t mean it doesn’t apply to anyone else. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-the-us-but-i-dont-vote-never-have-never-will-ask-me-anything-if-you-want/771059.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-live-in-the-us-but-i-dont-vote-never-have-never-will-ask-me-anything-if-you-want/771059.md?page=10)