Yep, diversity in all things!
I do hope you put her right.
You all remember that awesome Terrentino movie where the American special forces went undercover in Nazi occupied France and voted Hitler out of office in that theater? Me neither
This bullshit message board doesn’t let me highlight text or I’d quote him, but that other poster said that an individual’s vote demonstrably doesn’t matter. I’m sick of having to argue this point to boomers who fucking act BAFFLED why young people aren’t as enthusiastic as them about casting a virtually worthless vote for the marginally nicer Bond villain.
“no snowflake feels responsible for the avalanche”- no snowflake IS responsible for the avalanche. Everyone who votes is doing a good thing but it’s not enough. It’s like when there’s a recession. We try a lot of different things that actually matter don’t we? We don’t blame the consumer for not going to walmart and buying- whatever, doesn’t matter- the thing they don’t want the least.
You people LOVE voting. You do it every other November and spend the rest of the year talking about how great it was and how much you’re looking forward to it the November after the next one. It’s pathetic really. Did you also fuck your spouse in October and can’t hardly contain yourself because the second Thursday of the month is almost here?
Hey I made a decision while I wrote this post: fuck every single one of you who shits on non-voters for not voting. You also cry about how millennials are killing Miracle Whip and the timeshare. Some things deserve to die, shit heads
That is absolutely not true. On the politics side, politicians look at all the votes. Who votes, where they vote, for whom they vote, why they vote, etc ad nauseam. On the personal side, your vote is your statement. You may be the lone dissenter, but your dissent may encourage others to dissent in future; contrariwise, if you are in a safe seat for your preferred candidate, you still need to go out and vote for them to keep it safe, because if too many stay home then the seat may not actually be safe and your candidate may actually lose.
It seems to me that folks who complain the loudest about low voter turnout seem to have the underlying assumption that those who don’t vote would vote the same way they would.
I only fuck my wife after she votes. Otherwise, I withhold my love.
Voting deserves to die? First time I’ve heard this sentiment. Care to elaborate?
(I’m with you on Miracle Whip and timeshares)
Sounds like some independent thinking individuals. Def not Boomers. If I had to pinpoint a theme, it’s that the mechanism of democracy is flawed. Very level-headed reaction to the rise of Trump and Obama.
I hope you see how your fantastic two-party system might be propagating this trend, especially in the age of inattentiveness.
But still fuck it, fucking vote even if you hate it, even if you don’t know or understand shit, even if you don’t, like really like like, you know? a candidate. I fucking hate it, because my party has always been the but-they’re-never-gonna-count-anyway-party. But they do fucking count, they made a difference for decades outside of parliament for fucks sake! Don’t come here and tell me my vote didn’t count when you didn’t even bother!
:rolleyes:
I’m a U.S. citizen, and I don’t vote in U.S. Elections.
I do vote in my own country’s elections, of course.
I haven’t lived in the States for over 16 years, and I don’t consider myself an American. I don’t think people like me should vote. For one, enough people in the world can’t vote at all; it’s unfair that some of us can vote twice. For another, I believe voting in U.S. elections when my loyalty and allegiance is to a country other than America is nothing more than a legal version of foreign election tampering.
But I’m an exception. And if I were living in the U.S. right now, damn right I’d vote.
Huh.
I’ve lived in Australia (almost) 14 years now, and I vote in both, and I think it’s completely right and proper - in fact, your way of thinking never occurred to me at all.
For your first point, how does your (or my) not voting in both of the countries that we are citizens of help those who cannot vote at all? Or even affect them? I confess, I’m entirely confused by your feelings on that one.
The second, well, I suppose I could sort of get it…if I felt that I could only be loyal to one country at a time. I don’t believe that, anymore than I believe that if I love (for example) my parents, I cannot love anyone else.
Now, if the two countries were actively hostile, I might drop one or the other, but that doesn’t apply to either of our adoptive countries with respect to the US.
So far as I’m concerned, voting is a responsibility of citizenship, and I’m curious as to why you retain your US citizenship if you don’t intend to vote.
(I hasten to add, I’m not condemning you, I just don’t get it)
Say I believe one candidate is better for the U.S. and the other candidate is better for Israel. Hardly a hypothetical situation. Who should I vote for? I can’t vote or the one who’s worse for Israel, because I consider myself an Israeli first and foremost and I refuse to take any action that could cause my country harm. But I can’t vote for the one who I think is worse for the United States, because that would be harming America, a country I care for deeply - as well as exactly the kind of “dual loyalty” people accuse Jews of having. So I don’t vote at all. Even this year, when the choice is clearer in my mind, I still won’t vote out of principle. It’s not a choice I should be making.
Plus, as someone who doesn’t live in a voting district, what right do I have to impose my opinion on those who do? I’m not the one who’ll suffer if I’m wrong.
It bothers me. It makes me feel privileged, like I think I’m better than everyone else.
As to why I keep my citizenship, the passport is useful when I want to visit Stateside. I still have some family there, after all. Even then, I’d give it up if I didn’t suspect that the U.S. authorities might not be eager to grant a visa to someone who’d renounced his citizenship.
I’ve been in the UK for over two decades and I still vote in the US. Admittedly I do spend a few weeks a year in the US but still: I vote because I care about the country and want the least worst people running it.
I would rather the majority of people vote, even if they vote some other way, as long as the voting system was free and fair. Democracy means my side loses sometimes, but I’d rather the decision be made by the people as a whole rather than by a few small riled-up groups who vote while the rest of the population don’t bother.
Democracy itself isn’t inherently flawed, but our current constitution and political system may no longer be compatible with the times in which we live. The Framers of the Constitution couldn’t have envisioned the power of electronic tribes. Our electronic tribalism stands in diametric opposition to a diverse, democratic society, open, inclusive society. The organizers of such tribes seem to do so with the idea of creating identities and excluding those who don’t buy into that identity. These social forces are tearing people apart, and I don’t know if anyone really knows how to stop the forward momentum of such a force - other than regulating the platforms (Facebook, Twitter, etc). But people will inevitably regulate them as they see fit, and with their own designs.
I can understand recusing yourself in that specific circumstance, just as a judge does on a case in which there may be a conflict of interest. But those judges rule on bunches of other cases just fine. And, having read your posts for years, there are also many times that that you can honestly conclude that the best choice for the United States is also in Israel’s best interests.
Almost lost in the mists of time, I remember that one of the debates about the current Spanish constitution (well, it’s original incarnation, it’s been tweaked) was that one region proposed letting people have two voting addresses so, if you were from TownA in RegionA and lived in TownB in RegionB, you would be able to vote in two local and two regional elections; the rest of the country thought that region was nuts with sulphuric acid on top. You have one vote at each level, period.
Now citizens from other European countries can vote and run in local Spanish elections; depending on the requirements of their own country, they can also vote in local elections back home. Most Spaniards still think that allowing a Spaniard to vote in two different local Spanish elections would be nuts, though.
Different people have different notions of fairness, and this includes when they consider it fair to exercise a legal right. To me that’s fine; I’d much rather deal with someone whose notion is different from mine than with someone who doesn’t bother have one!
True, but over the years I’ve persuaded several U.S. citizens - including members of my own family - not to vote in U.S. elections for the very reasons I laid out above. Considering who they’d have voted for, it’s probably for the best if none of us vote.
Besides, it’s a matter of principle. I take voting very seriously, and if I don’t think I should vote, then I shouldn’t vote, no matter who’s running.
So like I said in a true fashion, other than in super tight races, your vote demonstrably does not count? I’m not sure what you’re negating, as you’re agreeing with me.
I know how it’s intended to work; it’s just that ours is broken to the core & doesn’t in any way work like it’s intended to. I heard that one of the two big FL races alone was over 100 million. I can't participate in any meaningful way (read ) that any of the candidates would be concerned about my concern if that wasn’t already their position. What if I like some of their positions but not other ones?
That’s one of the main reasons that I vote, so I can bitch.
No, he’s saying that the number of votes isn’t just important for deciding who wins but also for deciding the size of the win, which also has a potentially significant effect. It makes more of a difference in the UK, where the size of one’s majority affects one’s political prospects, but even in the US a narrow victory or loss this time will draw a lot more money and attention the next round for both sides.
Votes count. They count as one vote (except for President, where it depends where you live). No more, but no less either.