Mentality
In a friends journal a she posted about voting but a had a reply on their viewpoint of voting or in this case not voting.
It is my personal belief that the "right" to vote was designed explicitly to give people a false sense of control over the government, placating them so they won't get a clue and do something that might create real change. Okay, that's cynical - maybe someone involved in framing the Constitution thought voting would actually give people control, but it's absurd.
In 2004, what I most wanted was for my tax dollars to stop going to the murder of Iraqis and young Americans, most of whom were in the service because that's their only hopes of affording our ridiculous college fees, now that the govt no longer subsidizes public universities as it did 25 years ago. Could I achieve this by voting? No. Bush was for the war. Kerry was for the war. My state representatives can't do it alone.
Now, the vast majority of Americans want to stop murdering people in Iraq. What can we do about it? Nothing until 2008, since Congress apparently has no control over the White House. Yay! What power there is in voting! Not. We've got a White House that's gone renegade, a Supreme Court that's making decisions for buddies with "don't use this as precedent" clauses built in, and a Congress that's too busy debating violence in video games and voting themselves pay hikes to, like, deal with reality. And people are bitching at me for not voting? Of course they do: it makes them feel so superior, while they're not really doing anything for this country they claim to love better than I do.
I firmly believe that even my puny little Hathor website is contributing more to the overall health of my country than my vote would do.
It really saddens me that a majority of people think this way. The mentality of people that if you are in the minority of beliefs in this country that the system is broke and that you as a voter, shouldn't even participate. It's more like a five year olds mentality. I'm not getting my way so I will quit. Instead of educating the public on another way of thinking or another way to have a law. Instead, they see the solution as, well I'm just not going to participate and just let it go. But that's were you are wrong, because regardless you are participating. On megatokyo I think they summed it up best:
Don't just blow voting off like its a game you just aren't interested in playing. You are in the game, whether you like it or not. Not voting makes you an Non Player Character. Do you REALLY want to be a NPC, letting others decide what happens in the game?
Think about it before you skip on voting.
When people become complainant with their government, that is when government becomes corrupt and unjust. It is important that we stay an active player in the game, no matter how hard it is, and keep yelling at the top of our lungs. No matter how tiny our voice, whatever that voice may be and one way to do that is by voting.
It is my personal belief that the "right" to vote was designed explicitly to give people a false sense of control over the government, placating them so they won't get a clue and do something that might create real change. Okay, that's cynical - maybe someone involved in framing the Constitution thought voting would actually give people control, but it's absurd.
In 2004, what I most wanted was for my tax dollars to stop going to the murder of Iraqis and young Americans, most of whom were in the service because that's their only hopes of affording our ridiculous college fees, now that the govt no longer subsidizes public universities as it did 25 years ago. Could I achieve this by voting? No. Bush was for the war. Kerry was for the war. My state representatives can't do it alone.
Now, the vast majority of Americans want to stop murdering people in Iraq. What can we do about it? Nothing until 2008, since Congress apparently has no control over the White House. Yay! What power there is in voting! Not. We've got a White House that's gone renegade, a Supreme Court that's making decisions for buddies with "don't use this as precedent" clauses built in, and a Congress that's too busy debating violence in video games and voting themselves pay hikes to, like, deal with reality. And people are bitching at me for not voting? Of course they do: it makes them feel so superior, while they're not really doing anything for this country they claim to love better than I do.
I firmly believe that even my puny little Hathor website is contributing more to the overall health of my country than my vote would do.
It really saddens me that a majority of people think this way. The mentality of people that if you are in the minority of beliefs in this country that the system is broke and that you as a voter, shouldn't even participate. It's more like a five year olds mentality. I'm not getting my way so I will quit. Instead of educating the public on another way of thinking or another way to have a law. Instead, they see the solution as, well I'm just not going to participate and just let it go. But that's were you are wrong, because regardless you are participating. On megatokyo I think they summed it up best:
Don't just blow voting off like its a game you just aren't interested in playing. You are in the game, whether you like it or not. Not voting makes you an Non Player Character. Do you REALLY want to be a NPC, letting others decide what happens in the game?
Think about it before you skip on voting.
When people become complainant with their government, that is when government becomes corrupt and unjust. It is important that we stay an active player in the game, no matter how hard it is, and keep yelling at the top of our lungs. No matter how tiny our voice, whatever that voice may be and one way to do that is by voting.