Voting: Doing it to rebel against the rebellion?
A few weeks ago, I voted. Since I have pretty much been circle A since I was a legal adult, I have always had a pretty interesting relationship with voting.
As someone who is, in most ways, very much against this country's economic and political structures, I think that in a lot of ways, voting is a signal that I am consenting to the perpetuation of those structures. And it really is. Voting in itself shows those in the seats of power that I am okay with choosing one of them to represent me. Even though we all know that none of those people really represent us. Not my representative, not my senator, not my president.
Who "represents" the voice[s] of young women?
Who "represents" the voice[s] of sexually active Latino teenagers in Los Angeles? Young blacks in Chicago?
Who "represents" the drug addicts? The people who have no access to education, or to job training?
Diane Feinstein's policies on women's health are great and her views on economic policies suck. President Obama's views on women's health also rule and his foreign relations/policies with South America are awful.
I am not a fan of representative democracy one bit. I am a fan of participatory democracy.
But, I voted. Why the fuck did I vote?
I voted because I am unsure how "not voting" looks on paper. Do I look like many of the other young, educated Americans who aren't voting because we aren't consenting to the current shitty system? Or do I look like all the apathetic Americans who don't vote because they don't care, and they don't feel like politics actually affect their real lives (and maybe they kind of don't?)? I don't know. I don't know what effect not voting vs voting has. And I'm just one person. I guess I just don't know how the circle A not voting policy affects things in the big picture.
As someone who is, in most ways, very much against this country's economic and political structures, I think that in a lot of ways, voting is a signal that I am consenting to the perpetuation of those structures. And it really is. Voting in itself shows those in the seats of power that I am okay with choosing one of them to represent me. Even though we all know that none of those people really represent us. Not my representative, not my senator, not my president.
Who "represents" the voice[s] of young women?
Who "represents" the voice[s] of sexually active Latino teenagers in Los Angeles? Young blacks in Chicago?
Who "represents" the drug addicts? The people who have no access to education, or to job training?
Diane Feinstein's policies on women's health are great and her views on economic policies suck. President Obama's views on women's health also rule and his foreign relations/policies with South America are awful.
I am not a fan of representative democracy one bit. I am a fan of participatory democracy.
But, I voted. Why the fuck did I vote?
I voted because I am unsure how "not voting" looks on paper. Do I look like many of the other young, educated Americans who aren't voting because we aren't consenting to the current shitty system? Or do I look like all the apathetic Americans who don't vote because they don't care, and they don't feel like politics actually affect their real lives (and maybe they kind of don't?)? I don't know. I don't know what effect not voting vs voting has. And I'm just one person. I guess I just don't know how the circle A not voting policy affects things in the big picture.
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