So, it being Saturday, Martha and I were out to dinner. At the door of the Restaurant the 20 year old greeter was registered to vote and ready for Tuesday, after she checks up on the candidates (one more time, I am hoping). However, a younger member of the greeting team, who is 18, isn't even registered! Don't they teach Civics in school any more? She doesn't see the point to it. I need some new arguments so that she registers soon and votes in this years primary and general election.
The odds of your vote making a difference are slim, I grant you. The odds of your vote and the vote of three people you know making a difference become much higher in a close election. If the whole voting age membership of the Class of 2010 at Lowell High School did or didn't vote it could change the state-wide results in a very close race.
Part of the problem with not voting is that if you don't vote it discourages others from voting and in an election as important as this one, we don't need discouraged voters, but rather encouraged voters. Let's go with the sociology of it. If everyone votes, then everyone votes. If no one votes, then no one votes and we get ruled by a small political elite that is interested in what it wants rather than what the majority of us want.
Voting is self protection for the masses.
And sure, I want you to vote for the same person I am voting for, because I think that person would be best for our State and our Nation, but MORE IMPORTANT is that you vote! I would rather see "Brand X" elected with a 70% turnout than my person elected with just a 22% turnout.
Regards — Cliff
2 comments:
YES!
One argument might be that the chances of 22% of the electorate being wrong and/or making a bad choise are astronomically higher than were 100% of the electorate to exercise their best judgment--it's not just to get our own opinions heard and acted-upon, but to leverage the collective wisdom of one of the best-educated and enlightened countries on the planet.
Another argument is to observe that we spend too much time focusing on the opinions with which we disagree, and not nearly enough considering the breadth of experience those holding those opinions represent--if we want to be the best and the brightest, we must consult with EVERYONE while we make our decisions.
The worst of our system comes out when any majority acts without the insight and interests of the minority at heart. (One strong reason in favor of Senate filibuster rules, for example). Even if the majority has the votes, it is tyranny unless that majority respects ALL points of view in crafting its decisions. And, the best way to ensure that that minority voice is heard and respected, is to ensure that it VOTES and is counted.
Which is to say, even if you're supporting Joe Kennedy, it's critically important that you be heard, so his 4% might be registered as the proper 5% (or 10% of 15% it might really be). That way, the R's and the D's will always know that the independent perspective is important when crafting their platform and their policy.
VOTE!!!
And by way of analogy, you can ask her if she recycles cans, refrains from littering, or does some other environmentally-friendly thing, even if it's slightly less convenient than not doing it.
Chances are -- and yes, I'm profiling here -- she does. Someone somewhere along the line explained the principle whereby small actions add up in big ways.
And she's lucky to have met someone who personally asked her about voting and registration at this point in her life...hopefully, what you said will sink in.
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