I am 75 years old. I have been voting since June 4, 1968, my 21st birthday and the day of the California Democratic primary. My introduction to voting was to have the person I voted for assassinated the night I voted for him. I have never missed voting in an election, including any special elections.
I have been a socialist since my first vote so, in reality, I’ve never been able to conscientiously vote for someone who represented my actual views or for the system I would like to see implemented. Sure, there were socialists running for office but, lets’ face it, this is a two-party political system and I’ve never wanted to waste my vote.
My point isn’t to argue the validity of voting for the lesser of two evils or the value of the protest vote. I had my reasons, but I’ve always voted – always, and if you don’t get off your ass and vote I don’t know what to say other than I have no use for you. Not voting is akin to voting for the worst possible choice, IMO, especially when those who support the worst possible choice vote en masse every. damn. time.
I posted my thoughts yesterday about what I perceive to be a need to re-examine how we view voting. I’m glad there seem to be quite a few Republicans who are dead set against returning Trump to the White House, and this is one of them, but we need to send an overwhelming message to Trump and his supporters. A message that can’t be denied; one that won’t allow Trump to cast credible doubt on the outcome, and that’s going to require getting turnout above its historical average (since 1948) of 58%.
Think of how pathetic that actually is. I, like all of us, seem to have been lulled into thinking as long as we still had voting we were somehow still a constitutional republic with a reasonably democratic methodology of choosing our leaders and representatives in government. How can we do that when well over four out of ten people don’t bother to vote; considerably less during mid-terms?
So . . . the issue seems to me that we have precious little time remaining to convince a quarter of those who generally don’t vote to do so this time around. That could make a huge difference in having the landslide we need to (hopefully) avoid some of the harsher unpleasantries I’m sure Trump will attempt.
After that, we need to keep the pedal to the medal. We need to push for greater civic engagement and greater educational opportunities to clearly demonstrate the value of voting, which should be recognized as nothing more than engaging with the people who make decisions affecting your life, your health, and your children’s future.
Perhaps it’s increasing PSAs that explain and educate on issues of import to most Americans, e.g. what the real differences are between capitalism and socialism and how the distribution of wealth is affected by each, or how the stock market really works and what sectors of the economy benefit from its ups and downs. We also need to teach civics far more thoroughly and accurately than we do now, starting in elementary school.
I don’t think we can just sit by and only vote once every two years any longer. While I’ve voted in every election I was eligible for, I haven’t always remained engaged politically, other than to pay attention and, sometimes, not even do that for chunks of time. We need to build civic engagement into our culture. Without it, the forces of reaction will chip away at our freedoms and our franchise until there’s precious little left. Look around. It’s just about what’s already happened under our noses. We can’t, as a nation, endure this way. We, the people, must once again take charge of our own destinies. Most of today’s politicians not only don’t, but aren’t capable of understanding our needs, rather than the needs of their donors. That must change!
We’ve taken voting a little too much for granted, methinks. That would include yours truly, though I have never missed a vote since June 4, 1968, my 21st birthday. I think I made the mistake of believing all that mattered was that I voted and I encouraged those close to me to vote as well. I’m pretty certain that’s no longer good enough; probably was never good enough, but it took the tender ministrations of the tangerine shitgibbon to make it clear we need to take the franchise a bit more seriously.
What, perzackly, that entails is unclear to me, but I’m sure a lot of us have ideas and many are already working on it. That’s what VR and GOTV are all about, no? But I am thinking a little beyond those two things, which we’ve been doing for a long time. We need to talk more about what it means to be an informed citizen. We need to find ways to present it that aren’t tres wonky. Therein may lie the greatest challenge.
Systems Savvy 