been gone almost a year (at least six months) and i'm going to start with a little rant.
i think not voting in federal and state elections, as a form of
protest, is understandable. fair enough – why participate in something
you cannot support? i also understand the argument that a single vote
makes no difference. mathematically, i doubt it's probable (or even possible) that my vote in a national election be a swing vote. or your vote, for that matter.
however, when those two arguments are combined, it strikes me as either
laziness or nonconformity just to be able to say one is not conforming
(which isn’t being much of a rebel, is it?). that’s silly. here’s how
it works – if you don’t vote as a form of protest AND you believe that
your single vote doesn’t count, how does your single non-vote say
anything at all?
i admit that the idea that we have any say as individual voters in what
happens in our political system is a bit naïve, or at best, idealistic. however, when i consider the alternative, not even a pretense of
representation, i figure it’s worth the effort to vote. maybe the system needs to be fixed but not participating seems a pointless way to to try to make that point.
as for the people who say that those who choose not to vote have no
right to complain, that’s crap too. the people who have no right to
complain are the apathetic masses. the people who vote without knowing
for what or whom they are voting and the people who don’t vote because
they simply don’t care. they can all just shut up. now.
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