Non-Voting Block of Cynics Not Even Lesser-Of-Evils, Not Even WWIII Will Do It

[omega minimo]

The enormous block of non-voters
under 35-40-ish
who would vote Democratic
if they saw that Party
address the corporatism
that is choking the nation and dominating the Congress.

They think it's One Party with two wings.

They join the Republican Lite block with copping out
to "Both sides do it"
and refusing to vote at all, for the Lesser of Evils
while they wait for the system
to burn itself out. Spoiled brats.

:nuke:

[Mythsaje]

1. I don't agree with that stance

but I can understand it. Too many ties to the corporate masters on both sides of the aisle. Looking out for their own interests before those of average Americans. Re-election comes first. Spineless toadies for corporate power, kissing up to the money machine.

We complain about it here, after all. How is the average, non-political-junky going to see it?

We often talk as if the system may be rigged. From some points of view, it's been that way for years.

"What rich asshole do I get to vote for THIS time?"

[omega minimo]

2. They think Not Voting can starve the Beast

or hasten its demise.

That includes some "political junkies."

[unpossibles]

3. they do, but the sad fact is the Repukes don't want

people to vote. The fewer voters, the more of a "majority" they have. Just ask Sean Hannity.

"Now, one other thing here. You know what? I think some of you need to stay home on Election Day. What? That's right. I think -- I know it sounds terrible. I don't want everybody to vote; I want well-informed people to vote. ... look, I think for some, I think you've gotta accept -- and I want you to stay home on Election Day because you must accept the fact that your party has abandoned you. You've gotta accept the fact that your vote doesn't matter anyway. So all you Democrats, stay home. So, you know, why don't you stay home on Election Day?" - Sean Hannity

[emulatorloo]

4. that's what the republicans want them to beleive

Why do you think the worked SO HARD to claim that Abramoff gave money to Democrats too, when it was all BS?

Why do you think that Fox news 'mistakenly' labeled Foley a Democrat when that scandal broke.

It happens time and time again -- Repugs push the 'dems are just as bad as us' nonsense all the time.

Time for the naive ones to realize this is a big lie.

[Mythsaje]

5. SOME of it's a lie...

But there's just enough truth in it to make it believable.

Look at Lieberman, for example.

There's a LOT of people who think politicians are mostly all alike--more concerned with their own success than with things that matter to the common folk. And there are just enough of them on the left side of the aisle to promote this belief.

It's not all, for certain. Not even most. But the fact that there's ANY, and generally tolerated by their fellows, makes it an easy argument for the Repugs to make.

[omega minimo]

6. Interesting that both those replies are about recent Repug propaganda

as if that is to blame, and "naive" people.

The people who feel this way are not duped, they are aware of the realities of the world they live in. They think it is a failing system and they think they can afford to sit back and let it. (Hence the spoiled brats part.........)

[Mythsaje]

7. No, they think they're powerless to change it.

There's a difference.

[omega minimo]

9. Actually some think not-voting Lesser Of Same Evils = power to change it

by letting it fail :evilfrown:

[MisterP]

8. same disillusionment in Cuba 1933-52

then came outright uprising

[Withywindle]

10. I have never understood not-voting as a protest.

Yeah, I've got some anarchist friends who make it a point of pride.

But in a country with as shamefully crappy voter turnout as ours, it doesn't register. If you need to protest so much, vote 3rd party (4th, 5th, 6th), spoil your ballot, write-in someone.

If you just don't show up, you're statistically indistinguishable from the millions of couch potatoes who can't name one of their Senators and can't pry themselves away from Maury Povich's Greatest Paternity Tests of All Time for an hour.

[omega minimo]

11. Voting as a protest makes more sense

:thumbsup:

[JeffR]

12. Their cynicism is tragic

But not incomprehensible. And sadly, the cynicism and apathy is hardly confined to their generation. Too many people my age - ie. old- feel the same way. A lot of it can be traced back to Watergate and the end of the Sixties, I believe. I know people who didn't "drop out" in the classic sense of the term, but they dropped out of political engagement, and never came back. I mourn their absence, but can't quite bring myself to condemn them for it.

[omega minimo]

13. Maybe that generation's cynicism led to this one's..........

as well as the mess we're in.

"I know people who didn't "drop out" in the classic sense of the term, but they dropped out of political engagement, and never came back."


That sounds like maybe the hippie/yuppies who have gone along for the ride or just woke up like Rumpelstiltskin.........................?

[JeffR]

14. You're right about the generational connection

It's a shame.

[omega minimo]

15. It's a tragedy