Jonathan Simon, via WhoWhatWhy.org Letter to My Nonvoting Daughter:
“My daughter, 28, recently wrote in an email to me, “I’m so disappointed in how the world is right now, I don’t vote because of it.”
Here is my response to her.
Dear L_____,
A lecture is coming that you’ll probably feel you could live without. Nevertheless, I persist.
I don’t blame you for being disappointed, or worse. But when you’re disappointed and frustrated and angry with how the world is, that’s just the time to vote!
Now that may sound strange coming from someone who you know has challenged the honesty of our electoral process for 20 years.
If you wanted to organize a mass boycott of elections (or a mass consumer boycott or general strike, for that matter), perhaps I could support that. But that takes a lot of work. Simply not voting yourself takes no work — in fact, it saves time and energy. Great!
Just recognize, though, that what you’re doing, others like you are also doing — others who are, like you, “disappointed in how the world is.” (By the way, the world has always found ways to be disappointing.) So then who is left to change it?
And yes, one vote (or two or three) seems very tiny, not at all powerful or consequential. If you don’t vote, it won’t be missed — after all, how many elections are ever won by a single vote? Virtually none. And add to that your doubts about the count to boot! You can certainly make a logical case that it’s not worth your time.
But then, do you see, it’s not worth anybody’s time! And that’s the end of democracy…”
Reminiscent of our past post:
THE ONLY WAY TO BE SURE YOUR VOTE WON’T COUNT – IS TO NOT VOTE.
