I can't help but think you're an idealist after reading this, but I know from many of your other posts that you're a wise dude. Tell me what you think about a vote for Ron Paul honestly, do you think it works against the GOP or for? Do you think Nader gave Dubya the white house? Really why should anyone have any faith in this system to ever feel like a vote matters?
I use Peace Action West to get informed for my votes and I do try to make the most of democracy. I'm not very well informed overall about the views of each member of the House and voting records and such but I try. You seem to have an idea of your own though and I can't help but feel like I am in the group you are ridiculing, although at least, I can admit I still have much to learn.
It doesn't help that every senator and congressman I have written has replied with bullshit. The worst was Richard Burr, that motherfucker. I'll have to find the letter he sent in reply to me when I wrote him asking to support MMJ in North Carolina, where I used to live. I know he wasn't necessarily the person to write to, but I write every person who represents me politically and most of them take the time to write me back, but it is always bullshit. I have no faith in any politician, so how can I truthfully support even the lesser of two evils?
The Nader remark was aimed at the characterization of his support and not the issue he caused for the 2000 election. Just basically that the niche candidates have strong followings but have trouble reaching out to the mainstream.
I applaud you for jumping in the pool of politics and actually trying to play along instead of letting other people take care of it. You know how all of those republicans and tea parties got into office in 2010? There was a group that united every pissed off person that needed something to rally against.It was conservative and pulled in the fringe voters that do not align themselves with a particular party. They used the conservative media to push the fear and out of context historical "facts" of patriotism. Like Paul Revere supposedly was warning the British about the Americans. lol.
The idea at hand though is this unifying quality. Democracy is a slow moving beast and it was designed just that way. It makes sure that knee jerk power decisions by small groups in politics cant go forward without a acceptance of the majority. So what is the variable impeding change then? Its knowledge. Most people have huge missing gaps in their historical knowledge of America. If you dont know where your coming from, where would you go? Weve been playing these same games in politics since the beginning of the country itself.
True change always takes a while because the majority of people have to experience the change as a tangible functional idea. For example the health care thing has been going on at least since FDR.The bigger the voter base, the longer it takes to convince the majority of them of a argument. Obama is a communist and so forth, well so was FDR JFK and Truman depending on who you talk to. You have to work through the mudslinging and bullshit and try to grasp the reality of our situation not the spin.
I see it as a long road but if we dont start now we are that much more behind tomorrow. Each voter has to weigh out their options with their candidates in presidential or legislative elections. We have to start from the bottom. If the majority of voters only come out for Presidential elections then were letting one check of the government to be elected by the minority. What we need is a huge burst of new faces that are all on the same page in the legislature or we all have to start at the local and state level. As our state and local government officials move up the ladder and most likely end up in Washington we can actually hold them accountable. The problem today is that the legislature is held accountable by the several huge corporations and interest groups in the county instead of the real people. Its been that way for years, it will probably take just as long to shake out the problems. We also need a revamp of the United States views of money and elections.
The bottom line to me is that for this community that is structured around MJ, a Romney win is a lot darker for our future then a Obama win. If you dont vote your just putting it all up to chance.
If we continue the football analogy. We are in the middle of a game. By not voting its essentially saying your team is just going to be chillen in the locker room during the second half. We will let our 3rd string play against the Patriots. Just because we cant Hail Mary it down the feild every time. We have to roll with the punches and try to make the best out of the opportunities given to us at any given time. With the goal of living to see another day and living to see if another opportunity may arise to get the 6 points. You cant just give up cause we cant score points at this moment in time. Keep working at it and avoid jeopardizing the progress you have made and you'll eventually get to the end zone. Luckily the time frame were working with is decades not 4 quarters on a Saturday or Sunday.
and on top of that Romney terrifies me on the Foreign Policy front.
