Astoundingly dumb: Gen Z Voters Say They Are Opting Out of the 2024 Election [View all]

[CousinIT]

https://www.teenvogue.com/story/heres-why-gen-z-voters-might-opt-out-in-2024

. . .

The first time Elias voted, it was 2016, when he reported to an elementary school polling place near his college campus. He was proud to cast his vote and perform what he saw then as his civic duty. For the upcoming election, however, Elias says he isn’t going to cast a vote for president, partly to send a message to Democrats, who he believes don’t take their voters’ preferences into account. “I think power is a language that they understand, and by refusing to put them into power, we’re forcing them to listen to us,” he explains. “They can’t… plug their ears and turn their heads away.”

Elias, who is Palestinian American, has a laundry list of issues with the current administration that have pushed him to this point, including sales of new oil and gas leases and Biden’s support of Israel. For Elias, the deciding moment came when Biden cast doubt on the Gaza Health Ministry’s reported death tolls. “I just found that to be truly monstrous,” he says. “It’s something I cannot cosign with my name and my vote.”

While some Gen Z voters say they are choosing to abstain from voting because of Biden’s support for Israel and their own support for Palestine, it’s worth noting that the Republican Party has become strongly pro-Israel in recent years. If voters spurn Biden for being pro-Israel, will they unintentionally hand the presidency to someone who may be less sympathetic to Palestinians?

For Elias, the answer to this hypothetical question depends on expectations. “We don’t have any illusions about who the Republican Party is or what they stand for. We know they’re dangerous for our communities,” he says. “The logic of not voting for Joe Biden in 2024 is that the Democratic Party is supposed to be accountable to young people and diverse communities.”

Zach, a political science major from Florida, views the act of voting as unequivocally important. But the same can’t be said for some of his friends, he tells Teen Vogue, who feel like their vote doesn’t matter. Part of that narrative is the fact that Florida, which used to be considered a swing state, has given its Electoral College votes to a Republican candidate in every election cycle since 2000, other than Obama’s wins in 2008 and 2012. When Zach talks to some of his friends about voting, they say it’s a waste of time because they feel like the winner has already been decided.

So where does that leave Zach? “It makes me feel sad because I remember, especially in the 2022 midterms, people were saying the younger generation saved democracy,” he says. “And now… maybe [young voters] can protect democracy in 2024? I see [people choosing not to vote] as crazy. Why do you not want to vote?”

I'm sorry but that Elias guy is a moron. Electing Trump by not voting is NOT going to "send a message to Democrats". It IS going to destroy democracy and ensure that 2024 is the LAST actual Democratic election the United States has in his lifetime. And ours.

DUMB.