I'll probably end up writing "No Preference" for all of the candidate selections. I know little about most of the candidates in my state so I can't, in good conscience, vote for any of them. They're all Democrats or Republicans anyway. |
|
I keep hearing that many people don't know that there is a mid-term election tomorrow for all kinds of elected officials and ballot proposals, but I doubt few on DV haven't heard...but perhaps the date has snuck up on many of us. |
|
Something important for every newbie: http://www.dreamviews.com/general-lu...-read-imo.html
Listen while you work or before bed? http://www.dreamviews.com/dreamviews-podcast/
More great audio: http://www.dreamviews.com/dreamviews-audio/
My lucid dreaming journey: http://www.dreamviews.com/members/fo...boutme#aboutme
I'll probably end up writing "No Preference" for all of the candidate selections. I know little about most of the candidates in my state so I can't, in good conscience, vote for any of them. They're all Democrats or Republicans anyway. |
|
The worst thing that can happen to a good cause is, not to be skillfully attacked, but to be ineptly defended. - Frédéric Bastiat
I try to deny myself any illusions or delusions, and I think that this perhaps entitles me to try and deny the same to others, at least as long as they refuse to keep their fantasies to themselves. - Christopher Hitchens
Formerly known as BLUELINE976
never registered to vote. i never even cared to. |
|
Lol, voting.. |
|
Wow. The display of sheer apathy on this thread sort of illustrates in a nutshell why the U.S. political system is in a total shambles. The only people who care, and who vote, are the exact people we do not want to care, or vote. And the great majority of moderate, thoughtful people choose not to get involved, allowing the system -- and their governments -- to degrade even more. |
|
I can't fault people for not caring about voting. They see very little change coming from doing so. |
|
The worst thing that can happen to a good cause is, not to be skillfully attacked, but to be ineptly defended. - Frédéric Bastiat
I try to deny myself any illusions or delusions, and I think that this perhaps entitles me to try and deny the same to others, at least as long as they refuse to keep their fantasies to themselves. - Christopher Hitchens
Formerly known as BLUELINE976
Well, half a century of not voting (U.S. voter rates have held below 50% for decades), of not caring, has indeed led to a government littered with least-common-denominator (50/50 nation)-elected politicians who will continue guaranteeing that nothing ever changes, since their lives are better that way. This is a slippery-slope personified: nobody cares, nobody votes, so nothing changes, and then the cycle continues as the government circles the drain, run by people elected by the few with agendas rather than the majority with real governing in mind. |
|
The chance that an individual vote will influence the election of one candidate over another or break a tie is incredibly small. Not exercising the right to vote does not lead to a forfeiture of the right to complain. |
|
The worst thing that can happen to a good cause is, not to be skillfully attacked, but to be ineptly defended. - Frédéric Bastiat
I try to deny myself any illusions or delusions, and I think that this perhaps entitles me to try and deny the same to others, at least as long as they refuse to keep their fantasies to themselves. - Christopher Hitchens
Formerly known as BLUELINE976
^^ Yes, an individual vote is generally meaningless, but tens of millions of individual votes working together might make a tremendous difference. And, yes, not contributing to that potential power-base does in my opinion indeed exclude a person from rationally expressing his disgust in his democracy. Almost by definition. |
|
Well, I guess my above point was made for me yesterday, as the U.S.'s near-term future (and longer-term future for many individual states) was defined by the wills of a very small minority of citizens, mostly people over 60 years old (as in over 60% of the meager totality of votes placed). The vast majority of voters who either forgot to vote, decided mid-term votes don't matter, or have decided that somehow voting no longer matters have handed the government over to a small group of people who really don't care much about them. |
|
I usually don't vote due to a lack of genuine candidates with integrity. But I voted this time because of some major corruption going on where I live, plus there was a fresh new candidate who isn't a "politician" just a normal citizen which I thought would be refreshing. Though there was a major movement to get the current guys out of office (the mayor even has a warrant out for his arrest) they somehow still won by double the votes....all of them. And all the changes they wanted made to protect themselves and their corrupt practices also passed. To me it doesn't add up. I personally don't trust the government. They use their money and power to get what they want at the expense of others. I don't blame the people who didn't vote because I think that if big business want certain politicians in office they will make it happen regardless of the poll counts. Falsifying votes has been occurring since Ancient Rome. It's terribly hard to prove votes when there are thousands among thousands voting for each party....electronically at that. |
|
Okay. But remember that, in a democracy, like it or not there is no "The Government," regardless of what the pundits proclaim. The government is, ultimately us, but "Of the people, by the people, and for the people" only works if the people actually participates, rather than let a corrupt (or even well-meaning but stupid) people game a broken system in their own name rather than in ours. |
|
I am glad to hear that you participated. I honestly don't think there is any widespread rigging of votes in the United States. If someone had the ability to do that, then why spend so much money on political ads? Why give corporations more power over people in affecting our elections?(see Citizen's United decision) Why are certain parties working hard to keep people from voting through all of these insincere voter id laws despite it being proven over and over again that verified cases of voter fraud are virtually nil? All those things point to the idea that votes do matter and that those who are for the status quo will keep trying to convince you otherwise and will keep trying suppress the voice of those Americans who disagree with them. To me, one of the biggest problems is that money can buy some very deceptive and convincing political ads to sway the vote in the favor of those who have the money to spend. If all voters took the time to do a little research, as mentioned above, that would put the power back in the hands of the people. |
|
|
|
^^ That's fine; but to be clear I was referring to something that was discussed earlier by someone else, and not to something you said. Sorry for the confusion. |
|
|
|
I never encourage people to vote unless its for specific candidates or my party. I think there are too many people voting when they don't have much of a clue concerning who or what they are voting for. I don't want the clueless and apathetic to vote. I want them to have the right to vote if they are old enough, but I am not going to encourage them to vote. I discourage it. My message to people who might not vote is that until they have really researched the issues and the candidates, it would be good of them not to vote. |
|
How do you know you are not dreaming right now?
In my view, voting is immoral. It's a statement of support for the state, and it's an act of war against my fellow man. |
|
Last edited by cmind; 11-07-2014 at 02:10 AM.
I don't vote and likely never will. If I do, it will just to be to change things up or because I'm playing a joke. The system has never placed the power in the hands of the individual and I do not care to and can not in good conscious support a system the not only deceives its constituents into believing they are a part of their future but that even one vote truly makes a difference in this farce of a democracy America or any other country in this current moment in time claims to uphold. Doing so perpetuates the myth and only serves to further take the power from the hands of those that need it most. Our current system is so disgusting it isn't even worthy of the title "joke" because it is so corrupt and deceptive. The only way to win this game is to stop playing, and to start playing another game altogether, where the people make the rules, not the fucking government. |
|
^^ You do understand that this has become a farce of a democracy because so many have refused to participate, right? And that a functioning democracy is literally one where the people make the rules, right? And that one single vote should never make all the difference in a democracy, right? And that, by having a system where so few people vote, entire presidencies (and the wars, economic disasters, and political messes that come with them) are made by just a few hundred votes? |
|
|
|
The worst thing that can happen to a good cause is, not to be skillfully attacked, but to be ineptly defended. - Frédéric Bastiat
I try to deny myself any illusions or delusions, and I think that this perhaps entitles me to try and deny the same to others, at least as long as they refuse to keep their fantasies to themselves. - Christopher Hitchens
Formerly known as BLUELINE976
It's a double-edged sword, Sageous. I believe your arguments prove my points, that people should indeed stop participating. You are mistaken in that democracy has become a farce because people refuse to participate. As many people participate that are ever going to, and honestly it really makes not one difference. The representative democracy, or rather much more the oligarchy that the US has been since the inception and emplacement of the Constitution has never allowed the common people to make changes. They were believed to be too stupid, uncultured, moronic, and simple--and for good reason. So, the way you could make a difference was either to force your representative to do what you want (short of threatening torture, death, or something else, how can one really achieve this?), or to become a representative one's self. Since many of us lack the personal connections, outright fortune, educational or societal resources to do so, the power has never lied with the people and was never intended to. So tell me why should people go out and vote in our current system about current topics for current reasons? Why not vote on a new system altogether? Why not cause change in some other, more effective, smarter way? Why should anyone participate in this highly deceptive function of society meant to make you feel like you have say when you really have none at all? Don't work harder, don't tell more people to get out and vote, work smarter. Find a better way to run things. |
|
^^Well said, guys. I feel like I've been caught with my idealism showing! |
|
Lol, I've always thought you've had great opinions and a healthy skepticism, it's always great to hear another side of things. |
|
Refusing to vote isn't a rejection of the state, rather it further legitimizes the actions of the state by allowing the current system to retain power. Abstaining from voting is on par with voting irresponsibly - both amount to little more than political gesturing at best, and intellectual masturbation at worst. |
|
Bookmarks