I shouldn’t say voting deserves to die. Miracle whip is a bad analogy I didn’t think through. I would say that the way people pick their leaders in the US in 2018 is totally broken and does deserve to die, probably replaced by some other way of voting.
Usually people lightly acknowledge there’s problems with the system then just hammer on about how great voting is anyway and how they vote more before 6 am than most men do all day. But there’s a lot of people in this thread talking about this flawed electoral system instead of who can vote the hardest which makes me less hostile than I was.
Another bad analogy would be like telling a Russian “if you don’t vote you can’t complain”. Voting is just one dimension of political expression. The more screwed up the electoral system gets the more important the other avenues are. Basically if you punch a Nazi you should be off the hook for the next ten elections.
There’s no question that the system has lots of corruption, but that’s also a product of years of corrosion - years of cumulative voter ignorance, apathy, and non-participation. The solution isn’t less participation; it’s more of it, even when it’s difficult - especially when it’s difficult. The less democratic participation there is, the less democratic a society inevitably becomes. And it becomes more expensive, more challenging to repair the damage the further down this road we go. Authoritarians don’t just let you go back to the way it was once you realize you’re not happy with them. The costs of sticking your neck out to challenge them at that point isn’t just volunteering your time to vote or organize; it could mean ending up in jail - or worse.
A big part of voter apathy, imo, is the fucked up electoral systems we have both in states and nationally. It’s way past time to look seriously at better systems that make people feel good about their representation.
I could see these individuals agreeing with your statements. In fact, I think it is difficult to argue that nonvoters are dumb if you believe the political system is not compatible with how they live.
Tribes are ok. Tribes can coexist under a loose confederation and network of alliances. See Switzerland. See pre-unification Italy and Germany, especially. You will see a human flourishing that is very cosmopolitan and progressive for its time. Tribalism is a problem when the tribes are jockeying for control of a centralized government.
He didn’t say that at all. And given this isn’t the UK and we don’t have coalitions, the two parties will never struggle for funds based on a single vote. Remember, we’re talking about a single vote here, and not aggregate numbers.
I’m with the minority here so far - voting sucks. I think voting matters this election, because we’re basically in a Pascal’s wager situation right now where there’s a tiny but not-insignificant chance of world-changingly awful things happening if things keep going on as they are, and we should do whatever low-cost things we can to mitigate against that, however insignificant…but broadly, voting in the US sucks and is pointless.
It’s like Walmarticus said, if you lived in Russia, are you going to be excited about voting? Well, guess what - we have about as much real choice as the Russians do in terms of being able to elect somebody who isn’t 100% a creature of the current corrupt system. Either owned by it or owners of parts of it, those are the only two flavors you can choose from, either in Russia or here.
It’s like telling a cancer patient that although they can’t afford treatment, they can vote on whether they get meatloaf or chicken pot pie for dinner. The changes we actually NEED aren’t up for vote.
And there’s no real path to meaningful change, given it would require one or more constitutional amendments and we can’t even cross the aisle enough to approve short-term continuing budget resolutions that are in the best interests of everyone.
Instead, we can choose Kang ® or Kodos (D), and be real proud that we voted and we’re making a difference!
Wrong. A first step is to show politicians that we won’t put up with moronic racists that only care about themselves. We need to support any, and everything to get rid of them. We need to start with their moron in chief, Donald Trump. One way to do that would be to turn the Senate.
Guess how that happens. It starts at the base. It starts with every asshole that supports republicans that support trump. From county commissioner on up. THAT’S how things change. Since republicans only care for their own interest, we have to show them that if they are against others interests, they are gonna lose their job..
It looks like Democrats now have the house (no help from you Textual Innuendo [I assume you did not vote]). This will give Mueller some help in protecting his investigation against the criminal trump, and his buddies.
Oh, and this is horse shit too. No amendments needed. Just don’t vote for fucking criminals would be a good start.
Alright everybody - enjoy the “huge change” you just voted in.
I’m sure America is going to be all kittens and rainbows now that the right flavor of corrupt multi-millionaire is in office, and our days of being a bottom-ranking nation on healthcare, education, prisons, and social mores amongst the developed world will soon be at an end.
Getting back to the OP — Americans DID vote in greater numbers than usual for a midterm. That’s good news, even if I’m not thrilled about all the results.
These two researchers found no significant correlation between policy and public wishes as expressed via voting, but a strong correlation between policy and the wishes of a small rich elite.
