How about a Voters' Revolution? [View all]

[MineralMan]

I see various people on the Internet making statements about the need for some kind of "revolution" as the only possible means of changing the course of nations and making them better attuned to the needs of typical citizens. Rarely, though, do I see anyone defining how such a revolution might be conducted. Here's an idea that mobilizes the very people who most need change to happen:

Creating a Voters' Revolution

What if that revolution happened through that 50% or so of citizens of a nation abandoning their complacency or despair and showing up en masse to vote in an election? What if those who wish for a revolutionary change devoted themselves, their talents, and their energy to convincing all of those non-voters that they actually can change things by participating in the simple act of going to the polling place and making their opinion known through the voting booth.

Even in the most active of jurisdictions, it's rare for more than 70% of registered voters to actually vote in an election. And that's just 70% of roughly 50% of the population. Half of the adult population in most places are not even registered to vote, so their voices go unheard. Are these not the very people who most need change? Are they not those without a voice? Let's give them a voice that cannot go unheard.

Why do we not foment a revolutionary tactic of getting that 50% who do not vote to register and vote? Revolutions are almost always populist in nature, so why not recruit the actual population to take part in plotting their own paths? Among those who call for revolution on the Internet are talented writers, speakers, thinkers, organizers and activists. Why not put all of those talents to work to encourage a Voters' Revolution and enlist the mass of people whose voice is not now heard?

Are we ignoring the most basic way to create change? I think we may be.

GOTV 2014 and Beyond!