On Voting
I take voting very seriously. I have voted in virtually every election since reaching voting age. I’ve also invested time and effort in voting registration drives over the years, primarily targeting two populations: those in low-income neighborhoods, and young adults. “Voter registration” is important, but to reach its full potential, it should be one part of a program that includes voter education, and voter participation.
Over the decades, I have also been a volunteer in dozens of campaigns. In more recent years, I’ve run numerous local and regional political campaigns. I do not charge so much as a penny for my efforts, nor accepted “gas money,” etc. I am involved in political campaigns for the same reason that I have been involved in social movements during these same years: I believe in what I do. It is a matter of conscience.
Voting is a right, and a responsibility. It is not a privilege. Those who think they have a right to deny others their right to vote have an unethical sense of entitlement. Those who insist that everyone has an obligation to vote exactly as they do has a sense of privilege. Those who attempt to make others feel guilty about how they vote, or insult others for doing so, are foolish. Everyone has the right to vote as their conscience tells them to.
I’m not sure who I will vote for in the Democratic presidential primary. There’s plenty of time for me to decide. But even in that -- a primary, not a general election -- I’ll vote according to who I believe is the best candidate. None of the announced Democratic candidates is “perfect.” They each have strengths and weaknesses. I will continue to evaluate each one of them.
What I won’t do is allow other people to decide for me. Those who make a strong case for a particular candidate may influence my thinking, to some extent. And I’ll ignore those who channel hatred, hurl insults, and/or attempt to instill a sense of collective guilt by way of mis-using sociological terms. For it would not be fair to judge any candidate, based upon the toxicity and ignorance of some of their followers.
Peace,
H2O Man
= new reply since forum marked as read
The privatization of our educational system is going to produce even more apathy. More drones just smart enough to pull the levers while never questioning what the lever does.
I too have family who have never voted. But then, I know they haven't had the education I have had either or better to say, the desire for education in the same realm perhaps.
It doesn't make me better, it just means I know how the sausages are made. I have a hard time blaming them when I know they don't know any better and they mean well enough.
Good people, just, modern life is so hard in this land where nobody will lend you a hand unless yours is holding a dollar.
And so many who should know better, so many of the most highly liberally educated people in this country are working and putting their talents behind the very institutions destroying & defrauding them. Is it any wonder so many are lost?
