Why Bother Voting?

The following is from a Facebook discussion on my feed. Bekka reposted Nathan's account of being held at gunpoint by  unidentified people after placing an emergency medical call. 

Here's her intro:
My dear friend was treated very unfairly. What happened to "serve and protect"? What is happening in this world? I'm very confused and very unhappy about it. Is it sad that i think if everyone would just stop voting all together we could start something new in this world?

Here's the discussion that ensued:

Nathan Pitchford
Thanks, Becca. So much scary stuff happening in this world, but I just can't let my hope for the future die. The 1% who have all the power and want to get fat and rich by trampling on the rest of us are desperate because they know that when we open our eyes, they can't defeat us. I truly believe that good will prevail in the end. It's just such a hard path to get there. So much senseless suffering along the way. But people like you give me hope. heart emoticon

Shiela Branson
We can't just stop voting altogether - that path is like saying 'whatever ...' to the few who do vote frown emoticon Which is what the majority of folks actually do (not vote) and look where that's gotten us. It will be when that huge 'silent majority' heads for the voting booths that something new will start.

Bonnie Roth
Voting is still a privilege in our country. If we vote for the individual and not the party, we might get rid of the good old boys not doing the job they were elected for.

Rebecca Knudtson
Nathan Pitchford I admire your optimism greatly. Shiela Branson - its not saying "whatever"to the ones who do vote, it would just be a way for them to wake up and realize that our government is tricking us by making us think we have all these rights and privileges when really we don't. We are getting played and everyone is a victim. Some of us are just too trusting that our government is trying to do good for us when in reality they are just laughing at us like we are fools (cause we are). And Grandma Bonnie Roth - I admire your genuine heart that always looks for the good in whatever bad situation there is, but this is just far bigger than you and I. My opinion is very different from many other people's but that's because I have opened my eyes and started asking questions. I love you all

Nathan Pitchford
I can see your point about not voting, Rebecca -- functionally in American politics it's meaningless and has been for years (It's not how it was originally designed, just the functional reality). The big shadowy corporations that have Washington in their pockets own the government and make all the decisions behind the scenes. And the decisions they make are to poison our food and water and children so that they can keep getting fatter. And they systematically eliminate anyone who knows too much or puts up too much of a protest. But the thing about not voting is that it's not a way forward. And I think that's what people are looking for. I think the silent majority of non-voters that Shiela refers to are those who already know that their vote isn't functionally meaningful anyway, and so they've chosen that path of not voting -- but in a nation this size, there will ALWAYS be a few vocal zealots who think they can change the world without changing the broken system, and that minority will be enough to perpetuate the fraud. That's why I'm so hopeful about the new generation. Phones and videos are ubiquitous and people are fed up. The way I see to topple the thrones of the tyrannical power mongers is in the court of public opinion. Voting by putting their corruption on the internet every time you see it and making it go viral until no one can deny it anymore. Really, whether or not you choose to vote, you ARE voting against corruption by saying, We see you. We see what you're doing, Monsanto. We see what your doing, DEA. We see you and the whole world will see you and the outrage will grow until you can't contain it anymore. Sorry for the novel, just what's on my mind... unsure emoticon

Rebecca Knudtson
I love your novels

Shiela Branson
Bekka, you mean like not voting as a way of protesting against the way our government is being run? A couple of hundred million of us have been doing that for decades. It hasn't worked yet. Believe me, if ever there was an election I would rather 'sit out' and not vote at all, it would be this presidential one. Flip a coin, we're gonna lose either way, IMO. Most of us have been fed up and feeling pointless for a darned long time. So we shake our heads and say, 'Why bother?' Me, I think we as a nation have been trying to look through the wrong end of the telescope. IMO we ought to ditch that telescope and go with a microscope, start focusing on what we can reach. The way things are right now is bass-ackward from the way our nation is designed to be run -  and Nathan's right ... the 'powers that be' like it that way ... while our young folk don't know how it IS supposed to be but are well aware that SOMETHING is way off kilter - they just don't know what.