Do Not Vote Because Your Vote Does Not Count !!

Vote!

Vote!

Don't give a damn of who you vote for, but get off the couch, turn off the tv, take a shower, get in your car, or take the train, or walk...

Go vote.

If you do not vote, then your not a part of the process, if you don't want to vote and just be all apathetic that is your perogative as well.

What people have no right to do is tell others not to vote.

So vote!

Wow....such pissiness coming from the "everybody should vote" crowd.

Their argument seems to be premised on the guilt factor. NOWHERE in their argument do they address the things the non-voters are concerned about: The manipulation, the computers replacing paper ballots, the counting of the votes, not in public view, but in secret, and the fact that we resent being told we only have two choices, when we know darn well there are more than two.

If we say we are going to vote third party, then we get the "you're wasting your vote", or "you're going to give the election to X, because you're taking the votes away from Y"...etc., etc., blah blah blah.

If y'all are trying to get people to vote based on guilt, it won't work.

Can somebody on ATS give a succinct, truthful, and heartfelt reason why those of us who are angry and disenfranchised should vote, without the nastiness and pettiness this thread has brought out? I would welcome something intelligent. Saying the system works, while we see the sorry state everything is in, and the past election frauds, won't cut it.

Bring it on, pro-voters. Explain to me why, knowing what I know and feeling as I do, why I should participate in something that is basically already pre-determined, secretive and manipulated?

I'm also someone who believes the vote is absolutely useless, but for my own reasons.

i care about the constitution and people's civil rights and liberties and i see them being either circumvented or eliminated time after time because our politicians don't care about them.

The only thing our politicians care about is getting richer and richer and so they cater to the wealthy elite and are also bought and controlled by them.

So really, there is no help for the average American. It's all about ruining America any way they can from within.

And because of that, i have no faith in the vote. The vote has no power to do anything.

So why should I vote?

And to those who say I don't have any right to speak because I don't want to vote, that's a lot of nonsense. It's called the first amendment, and it is not conditioned on if you vote or not.

reply to post by FissionSurplus

reply to post by FissionSurplus


Maybe it is simply because it isn't credible to debate from apathy. saying you aren't voting mutes the volume of your future incredulousness to most. We will all have opinions on the governance the next four years regardless of who wins but it's just bitching and whining if you don't put down a marker. Hell write in yourself in. I bet you would do better than most. .02 because you ask. No disrespect at all.
Regards

reply to post by EvilSadamClone


you have every right to an opinion even if you don't vote.
how much weight it carries is a different conversation.

reply to post by FissionSurplus


Do you see a difference between local voting and national voting?

I was originally planning not to vote this time around due to the hopelessness of it all. A big fat repeat of 2008, IMHO.

However, then I thought back on the woman's suffrage movement and what all those women went through such as beatings, arrests, ostracization, harassment, etc. just so I could have the right to vote. It was a sacred right at one time.

So I'll still be there at the booth getting off my keister even just as a gesture of gratitude to those women.

Originally posted by howmuch4another
reply to post by EvilSadamClone

 

you have every right to an opinion even if you don't vote.
how much weight it carries is a different conversation.

How much weight it carries to you, maybe, but you don't speak for everyone.

Those that say they aren't voting are saying it doesn't matter, much like what happened with Gore. So, even if you had voted for Gore, it didn't matter, because your vote isn't what got him elected or not elected. It was the electoral college vote that cost Gore the Presidency, and for the vast majority of Americans, they are not a part of this process.

So, it is pretty simple to see why some do not vote. Their vote has no meaning in the election of the President. That should not be hard to understand.

reply to post by FissionSurplus


Great points you made there... also, awesome avatar btw.

I too see a lot of folks complaining about those of us who are disenfranchised with voting, but they never offer anything concrete for their, "go vote!" rhetoric.

Sure, in the abstract it looks like we have a great system, but it's all an "illusion of choice," to borrow a phrase from George Carlin. I mean, we get two choices that are oligarch tested, and oligarch approved? Lame. The whole thing is frustrating. I really hope people take a look around and realize that all of these selected candidates/politicians are groomed and owned by the elite families and their big wealthy business interests. That's it, folks.

Once upon a time, I used to believe in voting.. ah, so much for that.

reply to post by yeahright


Um....okay. So you are unable to state your case, putting the blame on me instead. I expected better....my mistake. Continue with the guilt-fest, don't let me interrupt you.

reply to post by howmuch4another


Debating from apathy?? I have been misunderstood before, but to say that I am apathetic about voting is as far off base as it gets.

reply to post by FissionSurplus

reply to post by beezzer


Thank you, Beezzer, for at least asking an intelligent question, and not making assumptions.

Yes, as a matter of fact, I do see a huge difference between local and national voting, because the stakes are a great deal higher for TPTB when it comes to the highest office in the land. They don't care about the small localities and the small offices like Mayor and City Council.

Local voting is fine with me; in fact, it is imperative to voice your opinion locally. I believe there is much less chance of corruption in local elections (although not entirely; recently there was a local election that had to be re-done around here, because the first time, fraud was proven at the ballot box).

As far as the POTUS elections, I distrust them to the point that I don't want to participate this year, for the first time since 1979. This is a real problem, and it doesn't stem from apathy (I know people who have never voted, they don't care....THAT is apathy). I do care, but I find the whole system to be rotten and corrupt. I started to see it during the Bush / Gore debaucle, and I believe it has only gotten worse.

There is a small chance I may overcome my intense distaste for the way these modern POTUS elections are held, and vote for Gary Johnson, but like I said, it is a small chance.

reply to post by yeahright


Beg you? Puh-leeze!! I asked for you to state your case, for people who are disenfranchised and upset at the current corrupt system. You choose not to do it, but to make statements encouraging those disenfranchised and disappointed folks to just stay away from voting then.

I guess my mistake was assuming that a moderator would set a better example, but since you quantify your responses as just another poster on this thread, all I can say is, FAIL.

Your logic fails. Your coldness and lack of understanding towards a sizeable amount of the population that is upset by the corruption and the lack of fairness in the POTUS election astounds me. If all you have to offer is a pithy, "well don't do it then, since you can't see it's value", then in my mind, you are a part of the problem, and not the solution. If you think you can somehow stop this corruption, or somehow save this country with your vote for one of the two sock puppets currently running for the popular vote, then I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.

There is a reason there are a lot of "why vote" threads. If you cannot see the tidal wave of people who have seen the corruption and are disgusted by it, then it is your loss.

Your lack of caring begs me to give you one of these:

I think people who vote are part of a mass sociogenic voting illness, they all have this collective hysteria that their vote counts! Evey four years Americans fall down to this mass psychogenic illness. There is no cure for them, they are all in denial of the truth!

The truth is :Your Vote Doesn't Count!

I know this want help: but look at the candidates, you didn't pick these clowns!

I understand the feeling that our votes don't count. I myself think the electoral college is an antiquated system before we had near instant communication the world over. But not voting at all? Nah, I'd rather my opinion be heard and counted.

There's already a large percentage of American's who don't vote because they don't care or whatever other reason. I'm not going to look up stats but from the Peirs Morgan interview with Jesse Ventura, Jesse stated that after he was allowed to debate, the tally was like 60% of the state voting. That means roughly 40% of my fellow Minnesotans didn't care one way or the other. Everybody knows the saying but I'll say it again: "All it takes for evil to triumph is good men do nothing."

I've been covering that topic and the laws of the system here for years. www.abovetopsecret.com...

www.pacinlaw.org...

reply to post by thov420


Your post was the closet thing to answering my request as to "why vote", so thank you for that.

However, you say you'd rather have your vote be counted and heard. Fair enough....But my point, and those of other posters who feel as I do, is that, in the POTUS election, how do you know your vote will be counted and heard properly?

You mention the gubenatorial campaign of Jesse Ventura in Minnesota, which is a good example of an independent bucking the system and getting voted in. I have no issue with that.

Again, what I have a problem with is the POTUS voting only. It is not that I don't believe in voting all together, I just have a problem with the every four year insanity, and the issues that have gotten worse with every election.

Other countries have outlawed the Diebold voting machines, because they are only as honest as the person who programmed them. They only allow paper ballots, which are counted in full view of the public, and verified as true and correct. Until they throw out those rotten machines, I will never completely trust that my vote will be counted, or heard, on the national level.

Originally posted by yeahright

The following is my opinion as a member participating in this discussion.

The thing that amazes me is the number of people who think somehow doing NOTHING is going to change anything. I mean, I understand the attractiveness of that. Doing nothing and getting a positive outcome is the great marketing promise of the modern age. After years of bombardment, it doesn't surprise me that people have now decided it's a viable strategy.

That's fine. I think a large number of people shouldn't vote. In fact, given the anecdotal evidence available, I think most people shouldn't be allowed to vote.

That's okay, just sit back and do your nothing. The rest of us will handle it.

You're welcome.

As an ATS Staff Member, I will not moderate in threads such as this where I have participated as a member.

can you explain what exactly you "handle" by voting for the lesser of 2 evils??

actions speak louder than words my friend.