A friend of mine is usually very political. He cares deeply and doesn't care who knows it. I, on the other hand, care deeply, don't care who knows it...and don't get into the political arena very often. I write about other things. However, he is having a hard time writing these days. This post is for him. While it will be a very different one than he would write, it is, nonetheless, a trip into the political that I probably wouldn't have taken had someone not needed to speak for him for a little while. I love you. :*
The past two nights, I have had the pleasure of Nerd conversations. There's nothing that makes me quite so happy as discovering a fellow Nerd in someone I already know and like. But I digress...
Both conversations dealt with the (then upcoming) elections here in the US. My partner in the first one is a resident alien living here in the States. He's been here nearly 20 years and has chosen to be bound by laws he has no say in influencing. Personally, I find this very brave. (digressing...) The point is, he doesn't understand voter apathy in this country. He even floated the Australian (I think) idea that people who don't vote be fined. While I understand this and even think it has merits, it didn't sit well with me. Again, in my opinion, this would remove a vital if amorphous and undefinable piece of what the country was founded on. It plays into the freedom thing somehow and, if you've read this blog for very long at all, you know how I feel about the freedom thing. Still, I can't help but wonder if it wouldn't get more votes for our government than for American Idol. We are very, very fond of our bank accounts around these parts.
The second conversation also dealt with voter apathy (and history, John Adams, the Constitution, and, and, and digressing...) but focused more on the cause rather than the solution. What was batted around was this: Here in the US, certain groups have a historical memory of not being able to vote. In our grandmothers' lifetimes, they were not allowed to vote. In black adults' lifetimes, their parents were not allowed to vote. But white men? Here in the States, in large part because of the way the country was founded, there is no united, generalized historical memory of not being able to vote, of having a right denied them. And that is what trickles down, even into some of the previously mentioned groups.
Now, both of these concepts are far more intricate, nuanced and complicated than can be summed up in one or two conversations, let alone one blog post. I can't even say how I feel about either of the concepts without thinking on them and mulling them over more. Still, they are worthy discussions to have and to consider and made for delightful bones to gnaw on as I waited to vote this afternoon.
Those are Pobble Thoughts. That and a buck fifty will get you coffee.
6 comments:
Yep, I voted today, being in one of those brackets known to the pundits as likely to do so. You do have interesting conversations, and it is true that those two could lead to deeper and more extensive consideration. An alternative to the fine for not voting is the "lottery" that selects one voter for a large prize. We do like our pocketbooks here.... It is an interesting political science study to compare voting percentages of populations in various countries that do have voting, as well as trends within thos populations.
I feel like your friend sometimes. We vote more for unimportant things than we do for what is important. Maybe there should be a fine but unfortunately that would take another portion of our freedom away. Voting for me is a priviledge.
I know this is not on topic at all, and I apologize.
I'm basically peeking in to say "HI", I started a new job, and will be gone from blogger for a bit.
You've become one of my favorite reads - as well as some of your linked pals.
I voted, though I did not particularly care for any candidates. For the one and only reason that all the women that faught to get women's votes worked real hard and I'm going to vote in memory of their struggles. It is hard for me to have confidence in the system especially after the two discraceful past presidential elections. But that isn't an excues to not vote.
As I've said in my own blog, AI gets more votes because there is a wider variety of better choices. We have a choice of competing goods, not the lesser of two evils and hold your nose. AI contestants are also truly representative of America, and are allowed to be interesting and real.
I didn't know Australia did that! So I learned something!
That said, I'm glad you posted this, and I'm glad for the outcome, for the most part.
I voted, we talked about this, and it was my first time to vote and it was so neat...I got a thrill from filling out the ballot (I totally used paper...I just saw Man of the Year, I do not fully trust machines) It was...wonderful...when I turned my ballot in, I felt like I made some form of difference.
Post a Comment