Thursday, July 08, 2004
Together We Can
I’m back in the U.S. for a few weeks, and after a fantastic weekend in Chicago, I have been sent to Boston for a two week detox. Right before I left, I got in a heated argument with Stuart Lim about whether or not he should vote. The argument never really finished, so I am going to try and outline my points one more time.
Stu’s argument is that, since he is only one person, and elections are decided by more than one vote, whether or not he goes to the polls and votes does not matter. Thus there is no reason for him to vote. This argument, while true, pisses me off for several reasons:
1) It totally neglects the progress that democracy represents, and takes for granted the absolute LUCK me and everyone other American has that they just happened to be born in a wealthy, powerful, democracy. So things are pissing you off about the U.S. government? Taxes too high? Government sending troops to wars you don’t agree with? Well at least people have a chance to vote for change. That’s an advantage we hold over about half the world. Are you really that arrogant that you can think that right is worthless?
2) It shows a lack of understanding about people’s ability to cause change. Remember back in the 1940s, when there were things like Jim Crow laws? How do you think the Civil Rights Law got passed? Was it all due to one man or a few people? If Martin Luther King had been hit by a bus at age 12, would there still be segregation? I don’t think so. In any social movement, there will be leaders, people totally devoted to the cause, people somewhat devoted to the cause, and general “mass support.” The same thing holds with elections. John Kerry, Terry McClauffie, they are the leaders. At the lower end of the chain are people like Dave, who work for the campaigns. Then there are people like me, who will vote and not do much else, other than discuss politics with friends and convince people to vote. When we go to the polls though, we all count the same. In order to cause change, to get rid of oppressive laws, to win elections, every group of people is needed, from the leaders, to the middle “workers”, to the masses.
3) People who don’t vote caused George Bush to win once, and may again. 76 million citizens of voting age did not vote in 2000. What were the differences between these 76 million and the 111 million that did vote? They are more likely to be minorities. They are in general younger (only 36 percent of 18-24 year olds voted.) They are in general poorer. Of course, all three groups are much more likely to vote Democrat then Republican. And this in an election where several states were decided by minimal percentage points.
There are problems with the electoral system, one being that there is no holiday for election day. I, if dictator, would change the date of Veterans’ Day to whatever day Election day was, giving everyone the day off with plenty of time to vote, while tying in the election with an honoring of American Veterans, people who fought for our freedom, for our democracy, for the right to vote.
Bush won by an excruciatingly close margin once already. Those people who didn’t vote in 2000 have a chance to make the difference in 2004. So don’t vote if you don’t want to Stu, and you can snidely comment how stupid I am for believing I matter or make a difference. But I do. And so do you.
Stu’s argument is that, since he is only one person, and elections are decided by more than one vote, whether or not he goes to the polls and votes does not matter. Thus there is no reason for him to vote. This argument, while true, pisses me off for several reasons:
1) It totally neglects the progress that democracy represents, and takes for granted the absolute LUCK me and everyone other American has that they just happened to be born in a wealthy, powerful, democracy. So things are pissing you off about the U.S. government? Taxes too high? Government sending troops to wars you don’t agree with? Well at least people have a chance to vote for change. That’s an advantage we hold over about half the world. Are you really that arrogant that you can think that right is worthless?
2) It shows a lack of understanding about people’s ability to cause change. Remember back in the 1940s, when there were things like Jim Crow laws? How do you think the Civil Rights Law got passed? Was it all due to one man or a few people? If Martin Luther King had been hit by a bus at age 12, would there still be segregation? I don’t think so. In any social movement, there will be leaders, people totally devoted to the cause, people somewhat devoted to the cause, and general “mass support.” The same thing holds with elections. John Kerry, Terry McClauffie, they are the leaders. At the lower end of the chain are people like Dave, who work for the campaigns. Then there are people like me, who will vote and not do much else, other than discuss politics with friends and convince people to vote. When we go to the polls though, we all count the same. In order to cause change, to get rid of oppressive laws, to win elections, every group of people is needed, from the leaders, to the middle “workers”, to the masses.
3) People who don’t vote caused George Bush to win once, and may again. 76 million citizens of voting age did not vote in 2000. What were the differences between these 76 million and the 111 million that did vote? They are more likely to be minorities. They are in general younger (only 36 percent of 18-24 year olds voted.) They are in general poorer. Of course, all three groups are much more likely to vote Democrat then Republican. And this in an election where several states were decided by minimal percentage points.
There are problems with the electoral system, one being that there is no holiday for election day. I, if dictator, would change the date of Veterans’ Day to whatever day Election day was, giving everyone the day off with plenty of time to vote, while tying in the election with an honoring of American Veterans, people who fought for our freedom, for our democracy, for the right to vote.
Bush won by an excruciatingly close margin once already. Those people who didn’t vote in 2000 have a chance to make the difference in 2004. So don’t vote if you don’t want to Stu, and you can snidely comment how stupid I am for believing I matter or make a difference. But I do. And so do you.
# posted by Marmaniac @ 4:25 PM 
