"If voting could actually change things, it would have been made illegal"
| Why you should NOT vote | Why you SHOULD vote |
|---|---|
| - Not voting is like burning a bra. It's symbolic. I'd rather take the
time to write a piece on my web site. Has more effect in the long run. Put
it this way: "Rather than waste my time voting, I wrote
this speech and hundreds of thousands of people are going to read it"
- Voting is a "release valve" to excuse yourself from responsibility for what is really happening in your back yard. "Don't blame me, I voted for..." It gives the people "personal plausible deniability" - Your vote means nothing. Does it matter if you take the left or right chute into the slaughterhouse? Either government simply wants you to work, spend, pay, and die before you figure it out. - The outcome of the election has no real effect on the operation of the country because the candidate is not required to do what they say they will do. For it to have meaning, candidates would have to be ethical and always keep their promises. Time marches only forward and we can not know if the person we are voting for now, will do as he/she says after the election. History teaches us that campaign promises are almost NEVER kept. e.g. "Read my lips, no new taxes..." Our only leverage, within the election process, is for the ONE re-election we get to vote on. But even this really doesn't make any difference; once elected this second time, the candidate knows that they can never be re-elected again, so the motivation to do as he/she said they would is over. One would think that a president would at least keep promises during the first 4 years, but the American people have such a short memory that a good war or other distraction is more than enough to keep this from being an issue. The ONLY thing that controls what the president does, and lends any hope of accountability, is the threat of impeachment and strong public opinion. We pulled out of Viet Nam because the people demanded it. The people demonstrated, went on strike, wrote letters, published articles, took pictures, made movies and generally threw a fit. On the other hand, a "strong" president can snow the people most of the time |
- Cool sticker?
- Personal plausible deniability? (need more here) |
See also:
Books:
Questions:
What issues do people think is important
| Issue | Importance, poll: | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fox | CBS | Time | |
| Economy | 23% | 30% | 25% |
| Terrorism | 22% | 07% | 24% |
| Iraq | 08% | 15% | 17% |