General Discussion
Showing Original Post only (View all)My son told me that he would not vote [View all]
He's 19, and a fan of Russell Brand.
His big objections:
He doesn't know enough about the candidates to make a quality decision
He doesn't trust our voting machines
He doesn't think there's much difference between the parties
We went through hours of debate, and my breakthrough moment was this:
Even if you vote wrong, even if your vote is flipped, and even if the parties ARE the same, your inactivity does nothing to change the system, in fact it makes it worse. Somewhere, a statistician is reporting that another 18-25 year old didn't vote, and that adds to the false meme that young voters don't care about election outcomes. When that happens, politicians stop caring about what affects that age group, and they tailor their messages, platforms, and policies to age groups that ARE engaged.
There's nothing wrong with a symbolic vote, when it symbolizes that you give a damn.
We went to the polls Saturday, and early voted in Florida