There was a comment about voter turnout for our age group? I really hope that our generation gets our act together and votes or at least deliberates about issues. There needs to be greater debate about issues. That will increase voting. People need to bowl more together* because then they will vote together. So start bowling with people, discussing issues and then vote:)
*Bowling Alone by Robert Putnam
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4 comments:
I think there is too much "sheep" mentality in America. The first step would be allowing third parties in the debates. As it is right now, the debates are highly organized down to the questions asked, hand picked by each party. No body even knows that there are other parties, because the two main parties shut them out so they can keep power. I would hate to allude to some of the more infamous political parties of our history (NSDAP, or Nazis, and the Russian communist party) who did physically ban other parties rather than sort of de facto ban them, so I won't do it.
Second would be the actual education on the issues. There are many people with good intentions, but they should actually know what the issues are. Understanding what the consequences are, what are the positives and negatives for the major issues.
I guess right now I have no third. I would say, in a pretty cynical view, is that the people who would not normally willingly vote... it would probably better for everyone, if they continue not to vote. What it be considered discrimation if everyone had to pass a poll test with like an 80% on the issues and candidates? I mean people complain about the way our goverment is set up (example - Electoral College) but it was set up like that because of a distrust of the common man (us), which suprise surprise, 219 years later... is still a problem. (Electoral College also exists so that states like Wisconsin can actually have their voices heard in an election instead of: New York, Illinois, Texas and California deciding the fate of the nation every 4 years. In a sad example, but a great win for the Constitution, was the 2000 election ).
Alright, here's a topic for debate amongst the up and coming leaders of this country: What are your views on Nuclear Energy? And more importantly, why?
While I think it's necessary for the youth demographic to become more involved in the upcoming election, I have severe reservations about them voting just because they can. I know people who have voted for candidates based on their names, looks, or other completely irrelevant reasons. The thought of throngs of misinformed or just uninformed persons voting scares me as someone who has an interest in turning our fine nation around in the next election. By the way, I still don't know who I'm voting for... so frustrating.
Both comments from Vote or Die and Elaine (I don't know if I know you but the nonetheless a nice comment) are correct. We do not want a misinformed electorate. Perhaps we have the President we deserve for our lack of care about politics or perhaps our lack of action to speak out. Even though there are some groups speaking out against Bush, there are not enough. A lack of proper logic and communicaiton skills, a lack of confidence in deliberation, and a lack of time make our generation inept at voting. We need to stop wasting our time in doing mindless things and start taking back our democracy.
For having the name "vote or die" you don't sound very vote supportive! There are a number of things America could do to increase voter turnout and education. First we could go back to the custom of Lincoln's day and have canidates give half hour speeches and 15 minute rebuttals instead of of 3 min speeches and 30 second rebuttals. Second we should abolish the electoral college so people in non-swing states have a reason to vote. Third the media could do a much better job of covering elections and issues. This includes paying more attention to third party canidates. I'd like to give a shout-out to those of us who have ever voted for a third party canidate. A fourth thing to consider would be to implement a form of instant runoff voting (IRV). There are many forms of this but the basic idea is a ranking of canidates and a system of running elimination. This allows people to vote for third party canidates more often and moderate canidates who wouldn't the election straight out to pull in enough secondary votes to win.
One thing I don't like the idea of poll tests though. The south did a similar thing to prevent African Americans from voting. There are too many things that could go wrong. Besides when the government makes decisions that affect you I consider it a fundamental right to be able to vote.
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