"foobar" <f...@bar.com> wrote in message news:teutlxbmxkyzvyrqg...@dfeed.kimsufi.thecybershadow.net... > > There is this phenomena in the US where some people feel that they have > the right to be ignorant but they ought to realize that this isn't a core > human right and it slowly degrades society in such a way that they lose > all other rights and freedoms. People should educate themselves and be > responsible for their votes and actually do vote. In my country (Israel) > an elections with ~67% of people voting was the lowest percentage ever and > usually it's closer to 80%. in the USA it's closer to 50%. That isn't even > a majority of the population! >
I agree that if someobody's *going* to vote, they have a moral responsibility to be informed about what it is they're voting on (and the biased handwavy-propaganda-with-no-real-information we get bombarded with from each side doesn't count). And it's *absolutely* best to be informed and then vote. But real legitimate information (as opposed to non-informational emotional, and frankly patronizing, propaganda: And I mean propaganda quite literally) is surprisingly difficult to find in this supposedly free country. The real information is essentially hidden by those who prefer us to vote emotionally - that way we're more easily swayed. And the US is such a goddamn rat race, many people just simply can't afford the time to dig through the mountains of bullshit: they're too busy trying to keep the bills paid. And if for that reason, or any other legitimate *or* illigitimate reason, when somebody *isn't* informed, it's downright socially irresponsible for them to vote (but many do anyway, and that's part of why american elections have degenerated into little more than popularity contests). > The current situation is directly connected to the ignorance and lack of > caring by the people. After all, a democratic government comes from the > people and represents the people. Clearly, the citizens of the USA didn't > care enough. It's not so much apathy. Mostly, we've just lost faith in politicians (and not without reason). Besides, to borrow from South Park, we're usually faced with a choice between a giant doucebag and a shit sandwich: We all lose no matter how the vote turns out. At the very least, that 50% turnout is a big vote for "We need a candidate who doesn't have their head up their ass."
