To vote...
Or not to vote?
At UVU there's a sign on the wall of the International Center that says "Half of the American people have never read the newspaper. Half never voted for President. One hopes it is the same half" (Gore Vidal).
On a day like today, I suppose we have four main groups of people: (1) those who are moderately informed and educated on the candidates; (2) those who vote and have very little idea aside from what they've seen/heard on the advertisements; (3) those who have no idea and vote anyway; (4) those who don't care and don't vote.
But how common do you think it is for people to vote on issues they know nothing about? I've also been wondering how common it is for people just pick a random name for races they know nothing about or how many just leave it blank. If I don't know anything about a person/issue, I generally leave it blank (ok maybe I occasionally vote for someone from a party you've never heard of. It's for moral support!). Maybe you just shouldn't vote if you don't know about the issues.
So do you think it is more important to be an informed voter or to do your civic duty? But isn't it part of our civic duty to be at least somewhat knowledgeable on the things we're helping our government decide?
3 comments:
I always feel bad when people don't vote, but then I don't think I want uninfomed people voting. I guess I would rather hve people do their civic duty, because really they have the right to vote and nowhere does it say they must be informed. I guess I like people exercising liberty more than anything, even if they are informed by someone who is "getting the vote out" and harrassing uninformed (and informed) people on the street. Hmm, did any of that even make sense.
And now I make a confession.....I didn't vote this year. I know...so bad, but I just never got around to it. It takes a lot more work here and I never plan on living in Kansas again anyway. So I didn't research the candidatees or even hear any fun campaign ads; it wasn't on purpose, I just never printed off the form and mailed it. Don't tell okay. It's embarassing enough as it is. I guess this year Jamieson's vote will count, instead of me just cancelling it out. Just think of me exercising my right not to vote. Maybe that is somewhere near my right to burn the flag? Okay, okay not that serious.
I say, if you are gonna vote, then know what you are voting about. And if you want to complain about politics, then you have to vote.
I feel like voting is like bearing your testimony on Sunday at Church. If you're not spiritually prepared, you're wasting time and sucking the spirit out of the room. If you go vote without being educated about the issues, you're doing a much longer lasting disservice to a much larger group of people.
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