08-23-2024, 11:21 PM
I am not really surprised that many feel that voting lacks any value.
There is a litany of negatives built into the mix. Perceptions like no confidence in the 'honorability' of those controlling the process, the equipment, and the mercurial oversight, and the fact that the 'players' are part and parcel of the problem, which persist regardless of who "wins." How every treatment of the subject in the mainstream 'public dialog' seems to fail to reach a tone of reasonable reassurance. That the political 'lip service' done to reflect a dialogue about it is an exercise in impotence. A few are finally leaning towards 'simple is better; solutions that refuse the 'high-cost' tech approach that has done nothing but make matters worse.
My dad told me once, about voting... "If they hide the process in anyway (how/where they're counting, reporting, who is doing it)... it's because the process isn't 'safe'." That was a long time ago. Go figure, ...we were just chatting about nothing in general..., and it ended in "But I don't think that'll ever happen in our country." Well... it has. And we can tell that the "machines" used are made by 'trade' secret-wielding companies who were contracted by politicians (and their convenient processes.) We can tell this is so because they don't work...
But regardless of all that, I would ask you to reconsider. I really have no bones to pick with anyone who votes in a way I wouldn't. So the request doesn't hinge on "who will win?" It's about the idea that if you don't vote, you're just along for the ride... I would never recommend just going along for the ride without some say as to where I, my family and friends, and even my community and society are going.
Our persistent problem is that a large chunk of us are always subject to the "it would have been different if he or she had won" as an excuse to pretend the world is predictable (never mind that most presidents for many generation have been self-serving, party worshipping zealots.)
As it stands now... the only way to begin 'fixing' the problem is not relinquishing your voice to "whatever man." (please, that's not meant to imply that you meant that.) I mean not voting isn't a 'statement.' All those things you said... now that's a statement! That voice... those things need to be reflected in your voice in the system we have... which could work (it really could.)
The reason it fails isn't in the process... it is in the behavior of those administering it. Politicians sporadically echo concerns of the public about voting... and then they dance around the crap that isn't the root of the problem... the root of the problem is that THEY are ALWAYS looking to "get away with" something. Always. They do not self-police, and they use "politics" as a tool to manipulate "perceptions"... case in point.
Yeah, shit sucks, it sure does. But I hope your voice would be included in the 'will' of the people (because my kids, and maybe grandkids someday are going to be counting on "somebody... anybody" to have at least tried to keep our shit together through this time)... I respect your thoughts greatly, even those we may disagree on.
The use of your vote is not only a transactional, win - lose, thing. It isn't just about outcomes... it's your voice... use it. The founding fathers shackled the future politicians with a direct inviolable burden... we, the people must be "heard" (we get to vote) - that can never 'go away' unless the government of that parentage is gone. Please vote.
To me, there is a 'fantasy' second step... begin to realize that the source of 90% of our misfunction in government have to do with nothing more complicated than "partisan" mentality. Their stupid games of "we're better than you" have caused more national grief than anything else in modern history. It's like they can recognize only two countries... "Us" and "them." It's a toxic competition.
We should probably send both parties in the duopoly to the time out box. Oh the horror.
There is a litany of negatives built into the mix. Perceptions like no confidence in the 'honorability' of those controlling the process, the equipment, and the mercurial oversight, and the fact that the 'players' are part and parcel of the problem, which persist regardless of who "wins." How every treatment of the subject in the mainstream 'public dialog' seems to fail to reach a tone of reasonable reassurance. That the political 'lip service' done to reflect a dialogue about it is an exercise in impotence. A few are finally leaning towards 'simple is better; solutions that refuse the 'high-cost' tech approach that has done nothing but make matters worse.
My dad told me once, about voting... "If they hide the process in anyway (how/where they're counting, reporting, who is doing it)... it's because the process isn't 'safe'." That was a long time ago. Go figure, ...we were just chatting about nothing in general..., and it ended in "But I don't think that'll ever happen in our country." Well... it has. And we can tell that the "machines" used are made by 'trade' secret-wielding companies who were contracted by politicians (and their convenient processes.) We can tell this is so because they don't work...
But regardless of all that, I would ask you to reconsider. I really have no bones to pick with anyone who votes in a way I wouldn't. So the request doesn't hinge on "who will win?" It's about the idea that if you don't vote, you're just along for the ride... I would never recommend just going along for the ride without some say as to where I, my family and friends, and even my community and society are going.
Our persistent problem is that a large chunk of us are always subject to the "it would have been different if he or she had won" as an excuse to pretend the world is predictable (never mind that most presidents for many generation have been self-serving, party worshipping zealots.)
As it stands now... the only way to begin 'fixing' the problem is not relinquishing your voice to "whatever man." (please, that's not meant to imply that you meant that.) I mean not voting isn't a 'statement.' All those things you said... now that's a statement! That voice... those things need to be reflected in your voice in the system we have... which could work (it really could.)
The reason it fails isn't in the process... it is in the behavior of those administering it. Politicians sporadically echo concerns of the public about voting... and then they dance around the crap that isn't the root of the problem... the root of the problem is that THEY are ALWAYS looking to "get away with" something. Always. They do not self-police, and they use "politics" as a tool to manipulate "perceptions"... case in point.
Yeah, shit sucks, it sure does. But I hope your voice would be included in the 'will' of the people (because my kids, and maybe grandkids someday are going to be counting on "somebody... anybody" to have at least tried to keep our shit together through this time)... I respect your thoughts greatly, even those we may disagree on.
The use of your vote is not only a transactional, win - lose, thing. It isn't just about outcomes... it's your voice... use it. The founding fathers shackled the future politicians with a direct inviolable burden... we, the people must be "heard" (we get to vote) - that can never 'go away' unless the government of that parentage is gone. Please vote.
To me, there is a 'fantasy' second step... begin to realize that the source of 90% of our misfunction in government have to do with nothing more complicated than "partisan" mentality. Their stupid games of "we're better than you" have caused more national grief than anything else in modern history. It's like they can recognize only two countries... "Us" and "them." It's a toxic competition.
We should probably send both parties in the duopoly to the time out box. Oh the horror.
