By not voting, you’re abdicating your chance to vote against the destruction of the country. If a Republican wins and does what they’re promising, tens of millions of people will suffer in all sorts of ways, a full spectrum of ouch. A painbow, so to speak. COVID alone killed over a million people here when Trump was president, nevermind his disastrous impact on the country as a whole or his foreign policy (mostly because numbers are hard to come by for the Kurds and Afghanis we abandoned, but go ahead and get opinions on how the Taliban has been running the place).
If you don’t vote, the suffering and death is partially on you, because you could have tried to stop it. That’s the immoral act, regardless of how you feel about the system itself. Hold your nose if you have to, and do it.
Not “might”. Will. And voting is absolutely not tantamount to telling other people how to live their lives, it is rather a statement on the way you think things should be run. You have a right to that, because we live in a society together. If you think you can go be a hyperindividualist all by yourself, you will most likely die early, but more importantly you will never enrich anyone else’s life, or have your own enriched by others. We’re all individuals, but we are part of a greater whole.
And just to play this angle: if you won’t vote because you “won’t tell others how to live”, then you would equally stand by and let the evil harm the helpless, for the same reason. Get off your fence and stand for something.
Surprisingly, I haven’t died early. I just celebrated six decades of life last week. I guess if I pass in the next couple of years that might still be considered early.
I think you’d be surprised at the number of people who’s lives i have enriched over those years. I certainly am.
So much for hyperindividualism, then. You’ve lived in society, and you continue to, so you benefit from the systems of governance we have in place. Participating in that governance is not an immoral act, it is part of living in this society.
Sorry, gonna have to disagree. I have no right to tell others how to live, whether directly or indirectly. Voting for individuals is indirect, voting for ballot measures is direct.
I have no right to tell you if you can own a gun or not.
I have no right to tell you if you can or cannot have an abortion.
I have no right to tell you if you can or cannot ingest a substance that alters your reality.
I have no right to tell you if you can or can’t smoke in public.
I have no right to tell you if you can or can’t buy alcoholic beverages before 1300 on Sunday.
I have no right to tell you if you can or can’t use paper or plastic bags at the grocery.
I have no right to tell you if you can or can’t sell drinks with paper or plastic straws.
That list can go on and on.
There are some who may believe “it’s all we’ve got so I’m going to participate.” I am not one of those people.
As to the hyper-indivualistic, I understand why you might say that. It’s not entirely true. I do believe that the individual is the smallest minority, but I also fully believe in voluntary community.
You have no right to tell someone they can’t rape or murder as they see fit. You have no right to tell someone they can’t abuse their child. You have no right to tell a corporation they can’t dump their toxic waste with abandon. You have no right to tell businesses they can’t discriminate against minorities. You have no right to tell the police they can’t abuse their power. You have no right to tell members of Congress they can’t use their knowledge and position to their advantage in the markets they help regulate.
Bullshit, entirely bullshit. You simply choose not to exercise that right, and you abdicate your responsibility as a citizen. Do you not want to leave this place better, for future generations? How do you not do everything in your power, including to vote, to try and improve things for everyone?
By not voting, you’re abdicating your chance to vote against the destruction of the country. If a Republican wins and does what they’re promising, tens of millions of people will suffer in all sorts of ways, a full spectrum of ouch. A painbow, so to speak. COVID alone killed over a million people here when Trump was president, nevermind his disastrous impact on the country as a whole or his foreign policy (mostly because numbers are hard to come by for the Kurds and Afghanis we abandoned, but go ahead and get opinions on how the Taliban has been running the place).
If you don’t vote, the suffering and death is partially on you, because you could have tried to stop it. That’s the immoral act, regardless of how you feel about the system itself. Hold your nose if you have to, and do it.
So I should engage in an immoral act because other people might do something wrong?
I have no right to tell anyone how to live their lives, and that is what I attempt to do any time I cast a ballot.
Not “might”. Will. And voting is absolutely not tantamount to telling other people how to live their lives, it is rather a statement on the way you think things should be run. You have a right to that, because we live in a society together. If you think you can go be a hyperindividualist all by yourself, you will most likely die early, but more importantly you will never enrich anyone else’s life, or have your own enriched by others. We’re all individuals, but we are part of a greater whole.
And just to play this angle: if you won’t vote because you “won’t tell others how to live”, then you would equally stand by and let the evil harm the helpless, for the same reason. Get off your fence and stand for something.
Surprisingly, I haven’t died early. I just celebrated six decades of life last week. I guess if I pass in the next couple of years that might still be considered early.
I think you’d be surprised at the number of people who’s lives i have enriched over those years. I certainly am.
So much for hyperindividualism, then. You’ve lived in society, and you continue to, so you benefit from the systems of governance we have in place. Participating in that governance is not an immoral act, it is part of living in this society.
Sorry, gonna have to disagree. I have no right to tell others how to live, whether directly or indirectly. Voting for individuals is indirect, voting for ballot measures is direct.
I have no right to tell you if you can own a gun or not.
I have no right to tell you if you can or cannot have an abortion.
I have no right to tell you if you can or cannot ingest a substance that alters your reality.
I have no right to tell you if you can or can’t smoke in public.
I have no right to tell you if you can or can’t buy alcoholic beverages before 1300 on Sunday.
I have no right to tell you if you can or can’t use paper or plastic bags at the grocery.
I have no right to tell you if you can or can’t sell drinks with paper or plastic straws.
That list can go on and on.
There are some who may believe “it’s all we’ve got so I’m going to participate.” I am not one of those people.
As to the hyper-indivualistic, I understand why you might say that. It’s not entirely true. I do believe that the individual is the smallest minority, but I also fully believe in voluntary community.
You have no right to tell someone they can’t rape or murder as they see fit. You have no right to tell someone they can’t abuse their child. You have no right to tell a corporation they can’t dump their toxic waste with abandon. You have no right to tell businesses they can’t discriminate against minorities. You have no right to tell the police they can’t abuse their power. You have no right to tell members of Congress they can’t use their knowledge and position to their advantage in the markets they help regulate.
Bullshit, entirely bullshit. You simply choose not to exercise that right, and you abdicate your responsibility as a citizen. Do you not want to leave this place better, for future generations? How do you not do everything in your power, including to vote, to try and improve things for everyone?