Friends Don’t Let Friends Abstain from Voting
by wildfeministappears
Many people are disenchanted with the idea of voting or involving themselves in politics. It’s been a hard year, and as always with presidential election years, the media has nothing else it wants to talk about. Unfortunately, people are more likely not to vote when they are bombarded with information.
We’re also dealing with very left and right candidates, which makes sense because usually only the hard core supporters vote during the primaries, picking the person the rest of us are left with. I would say vote in the primaries, but we are way past that.
With all the social and economical issues at stake, we really need to get in gear and make sure that people we know vote, and know why they are voting. Many people don’t see the point. They think their vote doesn’t count, or that the outcome won’t effect them, and if it does, well, they can just live with it until the next election because it can’t possibly be that bad.
My wordpress community knows better, and I think we can all agree that a vote is always important.
So what’s at stake?
- Reproductive rights
- Gay rights
- New and old wars
- Diplomacy with other countries
- Fair pay
- Medicare and welfare
- Social security
- Religious freedom (particularly not being forced to take on the morals of a religion)
- Censorship
- Insurance costs
- Taxes
- Education
- Privacy
- Right to protest
I could keep going, but I think you get the point. The stakes are too high, and we have to be informed, and we have to care.
I have until October 8th to make sure that people are registered to vote. Check to see when your cutoff date is, and let people know how dangerous it is not to vote.
Voting registration information:
http://www.rockthevote.com/rtv_voter_registration.html?source=
http://unitewomen.info/page.php?28
http://registertovote.org/index.html
This link will ask you about most of the issues and how you feel about them: http://www.isidewith.com/presidential-election-quiz
And this video is from 2008 (and Myspace, my God!), but it’s still relevant: http://www.myspace.com/video/vid/43877316
This election, something you care about is being voted on. And if you don’t register or vote, someone else is going to decide for you. Do you really want to give away your power, your voice? Are you really that confident that you’ll come out okay on the other side?
I’m not taking that chance. And neither should you, or your friends.
Help someone register. It’s an act of love.
May I ask about your comment, “very left and right candidates” – can you explain who the ‘very left’ candidates are?
Heh, I was trying to be non-partisan here. 😀 Of course, there are actually other presidential nominees other than Romney and Obama, but they’ve been clearly overrun by the two major parties. It’s a shame though. It would be nice to get the other ideas, especially the ‘very left’. I identify mostly with the green party, for example. They have a great candidate, and I encourage you to look into it if you have the inclination. Thank you for reading!
Thanks for that clarification – I’m with you re Greens. We have the same situation in the UK – the two ‘main’ parties dominate but rarely say anything new or useful – just the same old stuff.
I’ve always followed US politics because what happens in your country affects all the world.
Nice to chat and look forward to discussing more in the future.
Holly Near said something in concert this past summer that’s stuck with me. She said she’d realized a long time ago that she was never going to get everything she wanted in a candidate, so she votes for the one she’s willing to struggle with. I like this approach! 🙂
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