Yo Americans

[jawnbc]

Today is your election day. You need to vote.

And if you don't vote, please shut the fuck up about your government, its policies and the State of the Union. Because people line up for days in advance to vote in parts of the world. Most Americans have a 10 hour window, plus absentee ballots and advance polls.

Fingers crossed for the result many of you seem to want: put the Republicans out with the trash.

Comments

[hickbear.livejournal.com]

Hehehe. My long-time battle cry, used effectively with my ex- to force him to register and vote (for the first time, at the age of TwentyFuckingNine) in the '92 USAn elections, is simple and to the point:

If you don't vote, don't bitch.

[nursetomsf.livejournal.com]

I agree!

I used to have a co-worker who bitched all the time about the government and politics. When I asked her if she voted and she responded NO, I looked at her and said, "If you don't vote, you don't get to complain. So either start voting or shut the hell up."

She didn't like that...but tough shit.

[devcubber.livejournal.com]

Today is your election day. You need to vote.

amen. and, despite the negative spin the people working at the polls gave me and everyone standing in line, the U.S. electronic voting "machines" are NOT hard to use, are NOT confusing, and DID NOT make me panic or feel cheated in any way. Jeez.

I still wanted to paint my finger purple, but instead I'm wearing a sticker...like I did well at the dentist, not just tried to make a dent for my country/county/neighborhood.

[madknits.livejournal.com]

I voted at 7:00 AM EST.

I was sixth in line, and was third to drop off my ballot.

If my party loses, I am going to bitch to the high heavens. But I'll have the right to do so, since I have voted.

;-)

[bix02138.livejournal.com]

i've never gotten the "it's too hard to vote" whinge. so you have to go down and stand in line a bit. boo-fuckin'-hoo.

[mommybabou.livejournal.com]

I'd have gladly masqueraded as an American and drivin across the border to vote today!

[mommybabou.livejournal.com]

drivEn

I can type.

Really.

I prolly made other spelling mistakes but that one was a typo!

Agreeing, but not...

[infobear.livejournal.com]

Boy, this posting hit me in two quite different ways.

On the one hand, it is a close reflection of my personal opinion on the matter. Voting is the right of every American, and those who do not exercise that right have no justifiable claim to complain about the election result.

On the other hand, your post itself makes me take some umbrage with the attitude expressed. Since we're both educated people, and capable of reasonable debate, here's where you and I depart in opinion. I'm interested to hear what you think in response.

First, "You need to vote." This is untrue. As stated before, voting is a right. Abstention is also a right, and the reasons for doing so are myriad, ranging from political apathy to conscientious objection (no matter whether anyone else agrees with the logic of objection or not...it is still a right.) If your meaning is "You need to vote in order to be proactive about creating change", then yes, I agree. If it is from a place of "I'm a patronizing foreigner who knows better than then lot of you and I"m going to tell you so"....well, I think you can intuit where I'd be going with that one.

The second part. Hmmm.... It's unclear whether your statement of "Americans" is in the collective, or particularly to those you know, or just to whom this journal is potentially broadcast. If to the latter two, it seems that the readership of your journal and your base of acquaintances and friends likely don't deserve (nor appreciate) being told to "shut the fuck up" pre-emptively and before they have made the decision of how to exercise their own right. If addressed to the collective, how far afield is your "shut the fuck up about [the] government, its policies, and the State of the Union" from the exact sentiment that our current administration has enforced through fear, intimidation, and censure of "shut the fuck up about us, our policies, and the State of Our Union"? They don't want to hear about the aftermath of the decisions the collective has made, and apparently neither do you. Yes, people should vote, and if they choose not to, they should be circumspect about how loudly they protest the outcome of the election. This is not to say, though, that the choice made on one day, for reasons that are no one's business but that individual's, exempts anyone from being vocal or participatory as time advances and the consequences are felt. Sociopolitical structure is complex, and states of the union are path dependent. To reduce the issue to "if you don't make your voice heard today, then you forfeit the right to do so after this" is ludicrous.

People line up for days in other parts of the world? So what. Apples and oranges, and you know that. The practicalities of the voting system are different in different contexts, localities, and governmental systems. You haven't given a reason here, or if you have, it's unclear.

And yes, I support everyone's right to express exactly what they want, and how they want, on their own LiveJournal. Given that this is one of those oddly hybrid public/private spaces, clearly the medium invites response. And, well, this posting was constructed not as an observation, but first a directive (which begs the question - from what authority do you derive issuance of such directives?), followed by a combination ultimatum and condemnation.

I hope the Republicans lose their stronghold on the government...but I am only one, and I have exercised my right. I may disagree with, but respect those who are in opposition to make exercise their right, whether it be voting or not. If there are more of them than there are of me, well, that simply means that I will have more individual choices to make afterward. No matter what happens, though, I will always believe in the right of all citizens (or, I should clarify, American citizens) to have their voices heard in matters of governance regardless of past choices*.


*with the exception of felonies that strip the right of voting, of course.

Re: Agreeing, but not...

[jawnbc]

Dissent? We'll have no dissent here!

First off, I don't view my LJ as a platform. If I was more self-important I might have one of those stand-alone blog-podiums. I also dont' expect everyone who reads here to agree with me. Gawd forbid.

Today is election day in the US, hence the specific message to Americans. I generally post similar messages when there's a Canadian election. The overall message--non-voters shouldn't whinge about what the results are since they didn't participate--is perhaps the only civics message my parents taught me. Vote. Just vote.

People have the right to not participate. Of course. But you'll find in places in the world where the notion of democracy is very new, that voting is considered a privilege. Ditto new citizens here in Canada and (I would assume) in the US. They don't take democracy for granted. I don't either.

Do you really think many/most people who don't vote are lodging a protest? Really? I don't. I think they're cynical about politics. Or lazy. Or both. Here in Canada, folks I know who want to protest go to the polls and file an empty ballot, recorded as a declined vote. That's participating and protesting.

Thanks for your comments. I stand by mine.

Re: Agreeing, but not...

[catdraco.livejournal.com]

Here in Canada, folks I know who want to protest go to the polls and file an empty ballot, recorded as a declined vote. That's participating and protesting.

Indeed. And here in Australia, as you'd know (where voting is compulsory), people protest with "informal" votes - incorrectly filled or blank ballot papers, which are counted but not assigned to any candidate. If a majority of primary votes are informal, the election is null and void and the candidates get to start all over again. That's power.