Just to set the tone of this post, I want to be clear that these are thoughts off the top of my head. I’m not going to back up most of what I am going to say with data as it is mostly my feelings on the subject of not voting. There will be some logic and basic common sense, but for the most part it is just my thoughts on the upcoming election and ideas surrounding it. Please do your own research and think on these things. Don’t take them purely at face value. So here we go.
I am really getting tired of the following statement:
- “I don’t think I am going to vote this year because ____________.” Fill in the blank with whatever illogical, crazy, or troublesome reasoning they decided to say. Here are some of the common ones.
- I don’t like either candidate and I don’t want to vote for the” lesser of two evils” or something simila,r but really means the same thing.
- I might get COVID.
- I am only one person so my vote doesn’t matter anyway.
- I live in a mostly blue state and I align with mostly red values (or vice versa), so its not like it matters so my political party will never win.
Lets start with the main principle that covers all of these. There is not much citizens can do to control the government. We only have so many levers we can pull and the biggest lever we have is voting. We elect the people that run our government and if we choose not to participate in voting, we really have no right to talk on or be angry with the direction of our government. Voting is the main way we can actively be involved and make a difference in government, so please vote. Your future and your kid’s future might very well depend on it.
Now lets work our way down the list starting with “I don’t like either candidate and I don’t want to vote for the lesser of two evils”, or something similar. This is just plain bad logic. If you have a lesser of two evils, one is still better than the other, so naturally we should want to vote for the one that aligns with our values better. Personally, no candidate has ever aligned with my values 100%, nor is my expectation that they ever will, but I have never let that stop me from voting. At the very least, I am voting to stop the greater of two evils.
I might get COVID. There is a lot we can say here about misinformation, but if nothing else, it will get used as a political ploy (by either side), so let’s set it aside. In Minnesota, the state in which I currently reside, has mail in voting in all elections if you are a registered voter and sign up for it (called “absentee voting”). Minnesota even does early onsite poll voting at most of the government centers starting a couple weeks prior to the actual election so you can still vote in person with no long lines. I realize not every state does the latter, but most states have some have some kind of absentee by mail voting system. It might not be as easy as Minnesota, but the option is still there. So if you are thinking about not voting due to COVID, please look into absentee voting (or the equivalent) in your state.
The last two in the list of reasons really hit on the same line of logic, which is “My vote doesn’t count.” This literally is not true. If you cast a vote it is literally counted/tallied. Sorry for the bad humor, but it does prove a useful example. Even if your party/person didn’t win, it still meant something both in the numbers counted, but also to you personally. You know you did your part to make sure your values were considered. Having skin in the game really does mean a lot. At the very least, it gives you a scoreboard to know where your party/person stands and what work lies ahead of you. Secondly, there is bad logic in this one as well. If we stretch this out to every person and only a handful of people voted (or no one voted), we wouldn’t have a government of the people, nor would be have any say in what happens in government. We would either be at the whim of a “self-appointed” government (likely a controlling one), or an anarchical society, so please vote. History has proven neither of these are good options.
Go Vote!!
Leave No Doubt – Think, Love, Share
