"Don't vote" video (unbleeped) and a bit of a harangue

[avevale_intelligencer]

Here's what I think.

When intelligent, informed people (or any people) decide not to vote, for whatever reason, what they are doing--stripped of all the rationalisations--is relying on somebody else to keep that option open for them. They're relying on the probability that enough other people will vote, for one side or the other, that there'll be another election in four years time or whenever. What they call the "let George do it" principle. (We've seen how well that works.) And they're probably on the money, because there'll always be enough suckers to keep on playing the game, right? Till there aren't, and everyone's got wise, and the game folds up quietly and leaves town.

Sorry, I'm not being subtle. Only I kind of ran out of subtle back before a huge chunk of the global economy went tits up. Right now, I'd like to know if you can get American citizenship without actually living in America, because *I* want to vote in this election. I don't care if you don't think it changes anything. It *might*. It's *supposed* to. And at the moment I would sacrifice to the Flying Spaghetti Monster if I had reason to think it might have some effect on what's happening to my world.

I'd like to see another video like this, only with people from Britain and France and Canada and Germany and Spain and Australia and all the nations of Africa and Asia and South America and Oceania, saying "You don't want to vote? Fine. We'll do it for you." And yes, there could be some Russians and some Chinese and some Iraqis in there, because why not? I don't think there is anyone in any country in the world who knows what's going on outside their house and doesn't have some kind of an opinion about which way America should go. I could be wrong on that, of course, but even so I bet we could muster enough numbers to make up for the shortfall in the US due to low voter turnout.

Only we can't. So it really, really is up to you in America. If you're still absolutely unable to decide, flip a coin, see where it lands and vote with it or against it. If you don't think voting changes anything, vote for the side you think might make it more effective. If you're angry with me for haranguing you on this, vote for the side you know I'm against. I don't care (well, obviously I do care, but not as much as I care about the vote getting used).

Why am I doing this? Okay, well, you probably know I didn't want Bush to get in either of the last two times. I'm fairly satisfied in my own mind that at least one of those results was finagled, and possibly both, but I also know that about half of the electorate actually voted, maybe a bit more, maybe less. I want to know, this time round, if the majority of the American people actually want Obama or if they want McCain. I want to know, for my own satisfaction, which side the majority is on, and the only way to find that out is if the majority (or preferably everyone) goes out and votes. I want whichever candidate wins to do so with an overwhelming public mandate, so that the other side can't spend four years poking holes in them. Also, if the majority goes out and votes, it's a clear message to those who might seek to do away with elections that this is not an idea whose time has come.

So, in summary, I would really be awfully pleased if anyone who was thinking about not voting in this election would take a moment to reconsider. Thank you.

Comments

[stevieannie.livejournal.com]

I disagree with many of your political posts, so do as my mother told me: "if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all...".

This one though - I know where you are coming from. I care *very* much about the outcome of this election, and am aware that it will have a huge effect on the lives of pretty much everyone in the world, not just the US. I wish I had a way of registering my views so that they would be listened to.

So I'll just sit here and watch, and hope that enough people get motivated by Sarah Silverman's bra to vote.