> Though I will say that if you didn’t vote, then you don’t get to complain about the system because after all by not voting you’re rejecting a core tenet of the system. I gotta read more things out of this library, this is fun to noodle on.
As a previous water-carrier for this form of “if you don’t vote you don’t get to complain” propaganda, it’s crap. If there isn’t one single person you want to vote for on the ballot, you’re fully entitled to not vote and complain loudly about it. Making the choice to not exercise the one right does not preclude anyone’s use of the other.
That said there are more than people on ballots to vote for, and some of those things (open space, conceal and carry laws, abortion restrictions, school choice) are possibly more important than the people at the top of the ticket because as local measures they have a higher chance to directly affect you.
I am a seasoned voter who submitted his ballot several weeks ago in addition to prior-water-carrier for said propaganda. I know how ballots work.
All of that is irrelevant.
Choosing not to exercise your right to vote is a valid choice, and choosing not to exercise that right does not preclude you from complaining about electoral outcomes and the policies of the extant and future governments.
In a vacuum, valid. You can do that. Depending on someone’s reasoning, I might do the same, but I don’t draw the line specifically at whether someone voted or not. It’s not decisive criteria.
Current water-carrier here; I find it especially hard to believe that anyone could find a ballot where a few minutes of internet research would not reveal an at least slightly preferable candidate -- if not for you personally, for your community.
Ultimately, I find the supposed "principled non-voter" to simply just be selfish.
Sure, maybe it’s selfish, but so is voting. That’s not a sin.
Voting someone into office is inherently about electing them into a position of power. Generally that means voters are going to prefer someone who is aligned with their interests. If you examine a ballot and determine that that is no one running, then it is fine to draw the conclusion that you would prefer to skip this election.
Voting also has consequences. If your world view is not developed enough to determine who that person would be, it is also fine to wait until you’re older before you begin voting in elections. Elections are recurring, it isn’t necessary to vote in every single one of them, and on every single item on the ballot until you have an interest in doing so.
Of course, you can complain loudly about who’s on the ballot. But you don’t get to complain about the outcome of the election because you decided to opt out.
Nah. You can opt out and complain about the outcome too. That’s my point. Not exercising the one does not preclude the other, despite what wannabe gatekeepers may declare otherwise.
Sure, if you’re active in local government / community. To rephrase, what I meant was you can’t complain if you don’t partake at all because then you’re offering no solution or doing anything to make things better.
I mean, if you're not in a military committing atrocities, clearly you shouldn't have any voice in saying if that military should commit atrocities- because then you’re offering no solution or doing anything to make things better. Makes perfect sense to me. /s
As a previous water-carrier for this form of “if you don’t vote you don’t get to complain” propaganda, it’s crap. If there isn’t one single person you want to vote for on the ballot, you’re fully entitled to not vote and complain loudly about it. Making the choice to not exercise the one right does not preclude anyone’s use of the other.