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Originally Posted by viscousmemories
I'm almost 36 years old and have never voted for anything in my life, but I'm going to vote in this presidential election. Not because I've had a change of heart and suddenly believe that voting matters, but because lisarea is giving me a dollar to vote for all the candidates she picked out and I can really use that dollar.
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Ahem. Just a clarification. I will give you a dollar to vote, PLUS I have provided you with the correct answers, WHICH THE DOLLAR DOES NOT COMPEL YOU TO ABIDE BY. So the coercion was just a coercion to vote, not to vote in any specific manner.
Just so we're all clear on that.
As far as the arguments against voting, it's true. Except in rare cases like that guy Warren fired, it's unlikely that, even at the most local level, your specific vote is going to make a difference. (Although it can and does happen sometimes at the local level.)
The fact is, it's just a collective effort. It works when we all do it, but nobody individually can make that happen. There really is very little personal incentive to vote (except that, if you're registered and agree to vote, I will pay you a dollar, too, and give you the correct answers if you'd like).
It's just one big giant national compromise. I've been having a problem with voting for Kerry. I've since decided that I can vote for him with a clear conscience, but I'm traditionally sort of a protest voter, because the major party candidates never come close enough to what I think is right. But there's a big compromise element to that aspect, too. Everyone who votes gets a vote, with no preference given to those whose opinions are better informed, better argued, or anything. Everyone's counts the same, regardless. It's not really fair. I don't like that my vote, which I usually think about long and hard and only make after I research and understand what I'm voting for, counts the same as someone who walks in and votes a straight party line based on some irrelevant social issue or name recognition or something like that.
But I'm not about to protest that by not voting. I'm OK with knowing that my vote is not significant in itself, but just one of many individual votes that make up a big community compromise. People probably take offense to people who refuse to vote because it is a chore. It's just something we do as a community effort, not because our personal vote is going to make such a big difference, but because it's something we all need to do for it to work. You do not end up seeing an individual result for your vote. If you think about it, it really is a poor use of your personal time. The result is spread out among many people. It's a team effort of a whole bunch of individuals who sacrifice a little of their time to make their decisions as part of a huge national|state|county|city|district wide effort. It can seem almost petulant, in a way, when people say, effectively, "If I'm not going to get my way, I'm not going to bother." The goal is not to get your way. The goal is to be one of a great many who all go to their polling places to participate in the democratic process.
And I actually kind of like voting. I like walking down to the polling place, filling out my ballot, and getting my sticker, which I put on my steering wheel, and try to keep intact until the next time I get a sticker. It's almost like a holiday for me, only slightly less pointless on an individual level than other occasions.
So, anyway, want a dollar? I figure that, even though I'm still all unemployed, I should be able to scrape up a buck for anyone who needs that incentive to go vote. And unless I get a million requests, I'll do crib sheets for anyone who wants them, too. Which the dollar would not compel you to abide by. In fact, the two offers are not a package, but two discrete and unrelated offers. Just so everyone's clear on that.