To this day I am still dumbfounded by those citizens who don't participate in elections. I like to call them asshats.
I believe electing leaders (those persons who raise taxes, lower taxes, and spend it all on things like war and redistricting) is pretty important stuff. Yet each year more than half of this nation finds other things to do with their time.
So maybe a little greed will help. Combine capitalism and democracy and you get this:
Now I don't care if you're a gun touting, tobacco chewing, red neck or a bleeding heart, ACLU card carrying liberal, this just sounds like a great idea. Forget this primary and caucus crap, why should a handful of states get to decide who are candidates are? Let's turn on the market and watch the monkey's dance for a few months while the entire nation has access to the Buy and Sell options.
Join the fray by reading through and commenting at the end.
What an excellent idea (we have a slightly higher voting rate in the UK but not by much).
As for the non-voters, it's simple, by not voting they automatically veto their right to moan about anything (and ideally would receive nothing from the government they 'didn't' vote in - ohhh to dream...)
If you recall Greg, many months ago you persuaded me to leave the ranks of the asshats and re-join the rolls of voters (although I have to say that being an asshat and a voter are not necessarily mutually exculsive). The market-based approach sounds intriguing, but I have a more reasonable proposal. As a Californian, I am tired of our presidential choices being decided by a few podunk states.(My apologies to the residents of Iowa and New Hampshire.) What this state needs to do is hold its priimaries earlier in the year so we can have more clout. We got the numbers, so it's only fair.
Gordon, excuse me, but what a load of toss. Are you saying that if I choose not to vote because there are no candidates I feel are suitable, you'd force me to vote or take away any of my rights? That's democracy for you!
Have you thought that maybe the low turnouts are not due to apathy but due to problems with the electoral system. If people feel that their votes won't make any difference anyway, why bother? At the moment in the UK, many people who voted for the current government feel they were cheated as manifesto promises are being broken and the current leadership fail to engage with public opinion.
If we would just adopt a communist model, we could just stop arguing about this and get on with sipping iced lattes and eating garden burgers.
Andy, I hear your pain but I'm not buying it.
We must always participate in all elections and never let the politicians forget that the people have the last word. If the people don't vote then eventually they will not become necessary.
By not voting, you weaken the democracy that give you the right to vote.
i have this same conversation time and time again with a friend at a local diner. she is all about voting and shares many of your same views, and would undoubtedly agree with you that i should be called an "asshat" for not voting.
however, the government of the united states of america, no matter how much everyone tries to deny it, is not a democracy, it's a democratic republic. so say everybody votes for presidential candidate A.. but the electorial college (sp?), which was created to protect presidential elections from the "uneducated masses", likes presidential candidate B.. sucks to be you because guess who becomes president? presidential candidate B.. because no one cares who you vote for. now what you are probably saying (i know this because like i said, i have this conversation all the time..), is that you can vote for the senate.. and the senators are what make up the electorial college(sp?).. go ahead and waste your time.. if the senators aren't lying-through-their-teeth-corrupt yet, they will be by the time the election is over. in the world of politics money talks, and basic human emotions are covered in cobwebs on the back burner.
hey, how do you know when a politician is lying? his mouth is moving.
maybe if the majority of the population didn't feel like the government was re-enacting scenes from "Deliverance" on them on a daily basis they would be more inclined to vote but at the moment there is no point in voting because your vote means dick. you say i'm "waving my rights to vote" and that i "shouldn't be allowed to complain" but i am only part of an almost nationwide voting silent protest. there are still a few of you retards that think this is the land of the free. wake the hell up. this country was started by rebels and freemasons and people with no predjudices or inhibitions and has been taken over by the people they were rebelling against. freedom by voting my ass.. the only way anyone in america will experience freedom would be nothing short of a civil war, or by moving to another country.
asshat? at least i'm not a jackass prancing around in a cage preaching about how free i am. if the majority of the people involved with a system are living in poverty there is something wrong with the system. if the majority of the people involved in voting continuously drops it's because they are openning their eyes and realizing what the hell is going on. "don't waste your vote"? don't waste my time.
If there are no candidates I feel I can get behind in an election, I turn up to vote and simply destroy my ballot. Here in Ontario, Canada we still use pencil and paper ballots, so I put a check mark in every box. This way the ballot still gets counted.
It's going to be cold outside! I'd scalp the bitches.
Via Turkey Dinner, this fine quote from ftrain:
"My good lefty friends tell me that they're ready to leave America if Bush gets re-elected, and while I know it's mostly rhetoric, all I can think is, for shame, you fair-weather bastards, Martin Luther King didn't leave, Malcolm X didn't leave, Harriet Tubman didn't leave, Susan B. Anthony didn't leave, Samuel Gompers didn't leave, Frederick Douglass didn't leave. The reason the country is worth a tinker's damn, the reason it is still a great country, is that people stayed, whined, yelled, and voted." [bold mine]
I think we should do four things: 1. Add a "none of the above" option to every ballot and require a majority for the winning candidate, 2. institute Instant Runoff Voting to avoid stupid costly runoffs, 3. allow people to vote for a week and by phone, and 4. implement a $50 tax rebate for everyone who votes. Who wouldn't wanna vote for fifty bucks?
What is your stance on Wes Clark.
Derek, you're kidding, right?
While going to college the admissions department switched our enrollement to phones. It took two years to get 16,000 students and the admissions department to finally get it mostly right. To this day there are problems each semester. It's not that anyones doing a poor job of setup or maintenance, it's the nature of the beast.
So I'm not sure about voting by phone, but I like the other ideas.
The tax credit idea is interesting and one I've never heard before. It pisses me off to think our own population needs a carrot to vote but at this point anything to stop the bleeding.
I would also add to that list: 5. Create one system, one method, for voting to be used in every state, county, and township. I believe we are one of the few Democracy's who's method for voting changes county by county. It's a horrible way to go and results in higher cost and poor management for each voting place.
I am going to be very honest here -- if you don't care enough to vote, if you need "incentives" thrown you way, then you are not someone I want anywhere near the polls.
Voter turnout is overrated. If you have to prod someone to show up, chances are they haven't taken the time to truly understand an issue -- and frankly I value quality over quantity.
the government of the united states of america, no matter how much everyone tries to deny it, is not a democracy, it's a democratic republic.
Try explaining that to the "uneducated masses" and see how far you get.
Ah, you're awesome. I completely agree. Howard Dean had the right idea in his campaign name--people power. that SHOULD be what it's about. too bad the media (or he?) turned his into "screaming maniacal power" maybe the message will stick this time with the voters.
Asshat. Heh. Good word.
I heard that about the same number of people who watch the superbowl, vote. That's pretty sad if you think about it. Voting is just as popular as football.
Most people don't vote because they see no real difference between Republicans or Democrats. Being a far-left liberal (on most issues) living in Texas, well . . . I do vote, but usually feel it's rather futile in anything but a Primary.
I like Derek's ideas. Hell, I say we eliminate the Republican and Democrat political parties, institute an absolute term limit of two terms, eliminate the Congressional 90% pension-and-benefits-for-life, even if you only serve one term, scheme, define voting districts strictly by geography, and make all elections - including President - determinative strictly by popular vote.
Do those five things, and most people would vote.