filmmaker errol morris on voting: "11 reasons not to vote"

[robfilms]

filmmaker errol morris on voting: "11 reasons not to vote":

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/30/opinio...-vote.html

ymmv

be well.

rob

[deckeda]

That was pretty good.

Before asking why they will vote, I asked why most young people won’t. They told me that many of the issues they care about — climate change, civil rights, the war on drugs, immigration, prison reform — are not discussed by Democrats or Republicans. That there is such a gulf between what candidates say they will do, and what they do, that it’s impossible to trust anyone. That apathy is actually supported by the evidence.

It's not just the young who fail to vote, but they highlight a certain "what about me?" selfishness that misses the big picture of why not every important topic is a campaign agenda.

What I'll never understand is why so many can't find something to latch onto that will impact their lives in the long term. As was mentioned in the article's text, a vote for a presidential candidate is a virtual vote for say, unknown but likely Supreme Court judges---there's little else that can have a such a broad and long-lasting impact long after the President is forgotten. Voting is always a faith in what someone can do or is likely to do, it's not a frickin' guarantee!

[Lemon Drop]

If it's any reassurance, my 19 year old is very excited to cast a vote for the first time this year, and his very politically active campus has the vibe that voting is taken seriously. If it's a "what's in it for me" attitude that keeps young people away from the polls, then we've failed to do our job teaching them in high school the importance of this vital civic duty.

I'm also tired of hearing people disingenuously complain that this or that wasn't covered in the debates or the convention speech or whatever. It is possible to discover the party/candidate's position on pretty much everything at the websites, in party platforms, and other places. It's not hard to do. Don't expect to be spoon-fed everything - use the noggin.

[August West]

"the polls are a meat market."

:patriot:

[Surfrider]

I agree, why anyone can't embrace at least ONE issue and use that to figure out who to vote for is beyond me.

[Ca Bob]

If more people voted the liberal line and the most liberal candidates, then the goal posts would be pushed towards doing something about global warming etc etc.

Falling for the apathy line is to give the victory to the broken glass Republicans -- as one Florida party official put it, they would walk over broken glass to vote. Obviously, your one vote isn't likely to change the election (and arguments to that effect are doomed to fail), but your vote combined with those of a few thousand other people will change things. The Republicans showed that in 2010.

What is required is that people understand that it is necessary for those thousands of people to make the choice to vote individually, so that they will have an effect collectively. It's not that hard to understand, but sometimes it's easier for people to not understand something that would require them to think and make a modest effort.