HomeUploadUpload DirectHotlinkRandomAbouttheme toggle
Expand

Why You Don't Need To Vote

Views:861
@ReasonVids

Perhaps there are more meaningful ways to spend your time.

For full text, downloadable links, and more, visit https://reason.com/reasontv/2018/11/05/you-dont-need-to-vote

Subscribe to our YouTube channel: http://youtube.com/reasontv
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Reason.Magazine/
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/reason
Subscribe to our podcast at iTunes: https://goo.gl/az3a7a

Reason is the planet's leading source of news, politics, and culture from a libertarian perspective. Go to reason.com for a point of view you won't get from legacy media and old left-right opinion magazines.

----------------

If you want to alienate almost anyone, no matter their politics, tell them you're not voting tomorrow.

Your friends will gasp. Celebrities will judge you. Your mother might still love you—grudgingly. The very concept of democracy depends on it, they'll say. And don't you care about America?

Don't accept the guilt trip. Not voting can be an equally legitimate and moral choice. Here are four of the most common myths used to shame nonvoters.

'Your Vote Matters'

As Reason's Katherine Mangu-Ward has often pointed out, you're not going to sway a major election. Your chances are vanishingly small of affecting a race at the state level, and a single vote has decided precisely zero federal elections in more than a century. A comprehensive review by economists Casey Mulligan and Charles Hunter looking at tens of thousands of races since 1898 unearthed just a single federal race that hinged on one vote—but a recount revealed the final difference to be much larger.

Voting is like playing the Powerball. Punch your ticket or don't, and your life will stay exactly the same.

Yes, if a million other people think the same way, then the result could shift. But this is about you, and whether or not you cast your one vote. It simply won't affect the outcome.

Not if you live in a swing state. Not if the Electoral College were abolished. Not even if you're in Florida and your chad is hung like a moose.

'If You Don't Vote, You Have No Right To Complain'

Only about half the voting age population makes it to the polls, and groups including young people, the poor, and the disabled are underrepresented in voter rolls. Do they not deserve a voice?

The act of voting doesn't a good citizen make, and it's actually one of the least effective ways to contribute to the American experiment. Most social and cultural change happens outside the political sphere, and that's a good thing.

Rather than follow the latest horse race, you could tweet, blog, buy, donate, or activate. You might spend your scarce time exposing corruption, developing a new vaccine, or microwaving a burrito. Any of these things can have a more tangible impact on the world than your vote.

'It's Your Civic Duty to Vote'

Generations of brave Americans have fought for your right to vote—and for your right not to. In fact, you can choose not to vote because you love your country.

Maybe you don't feel educated, or at least not enough to fill out your ballot and cancel out the vote of your well-informed neighbor. That's OK, and really quite moral.

Besides, even the most knowledgeable voters can't predict what a candidate will do in office. Remember when Obama was going to rein in W's foreign adventuring? It was about 10 years and one drone kill list ago.

'If You Don't Vote, You're Just Lazy'

A principled citizen might actively avoid a two-party system that systemically silences alternative voices. You could decide that, by design, it doesn't represent your interests, and that voting for the lesser of two evils only helps the fat cats in Washington maintain a smoke screen of legitimacy.

In that case, go ahead and wash your hands of the whole rotten mess.

At the end of the day, you might want to vote. Maybe to give your granddaughter an upclose look at the machinery of American government. Maybe to get that fashionable "I Voted" sticker-selfie that proves to your Insta friends how woke or un-cucked you are. Maybe you just really like middle school gyms.

So this Tuesday, go ahead and rock the vote—if it makes you happy. But if you decide that it's a symbolic act that's unlikely to tangibly help your family or community, it's OK to spend your time and resources doing something more impactful.

This Tuesday, you don't need to vote.

Produced by Justin Monticello. Shot by Paul Detrick. Music by Text Me Records / Bobby Renz, Matt Harris, The Grand Affair, Geographer, Vibe Tracks, and Kevin MacLeod.

Cold Funk - Funkorama by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100499

Artist: http://incompetech.com/

libertarian
,
reason magazine
,
reason.com
,
reason.tv
,
reasontv
,
justin monticello
,
midterms
,
election 2018
,
voting
,
voter turnout
    Thumbnail for Remy: I Love L.A. (Randy Newman Parody)2:32
    Remy: I Love L.A. (Randy Newman Parody)
    ReasonVids
    940 views
    Thumbnail for Why Civilians Must Acknowledge the Individual Cost of War: War Letter Collector Andrew Carroll2:54
    Why Civilians Must Acknowledge the Individual Cost of War: War Letter Collector Andrew Carroll
    ReasonVids
    912 views
    Thumbnail for Netanyahu says campaign against Hamas must continue, rejects proposal by Hamas | NBC News1:52
    Netanyahu says campaign against Hamas must continue, rejects proposal by Hamas | NBC News
    invidious
    305 views
    Thumbnail for Was George Washington a Model Entrepreneur?10:15
    Was George Washington a Model Entrepreneur?
    ReasonVids
    938 views
    Thumbnail for Is High-Speed Rail A Fantasy? Adrian Moore and Wendell Cox Discuss CA's Biggest Boondoggle.27:05
    Is High-Speed Rail A Fantasy? Adrian Moore and Wendell Cox Discuss CA's Biggest Boondoggle.
    ReasonVids
    822 views
    Thumbnail for Natives need only apply0:58
    Natives need only apply
    bestofupgoat
    57 views
    Thumbnail for Bird builds a nest for its cat friend 0:39
    Bird builds a nest for its cat friend
    bestofupgoat
    73 views
    Thumbnail for Political Speech, Cellphone Searches, and the Future of TV: Three Supreme Court Cases to Watch4:26
    Political Speech, Cellphone Searches, and the Future of TV: Three Supreme Court Cases to Watch
    ReasonVids
    988 views
    Thumbnail for Rating tiramisu from cheap to expensive in Milan 🇮🇹 | Baochi Travel0:42
    Rating tiramisu from cheap to expensive in Milan 🇮🇹 | Baochi Travel
    invidious
    103 views
    Thumbnail for How I plan on getting in shape this summer. | Unnecessary Inventions0:20
    How I plan on getting in shape this summer. | Unnecessary Inventions
    invidious
    278 views
    Thumbnail for Amateur Beats Gov't at Digitizing Newspapers: Tom Tryniski's Weird, Wonderful Website4:48
    Amateur Beats Gov't at Digitizing Newspapers: Tom Tryniski's Weird, Wonderful Website
    ReasonVids
    833 views
    Thumbnail for American Store 🇺🇸 | FuelForFood0:48
    American Store 🇺🇸 | FuelForFood
    invidious
    87 views
    Thumbnail for Teach your kids the importance of how they present themselves.1:12
    Teach your kids the importance of how they present themselves.
    bestofupgoat
    108 views
    Thumbnail for The Locavore's Dilemma: In Praise of the 10,000-Mile Diet5:45
    The Locavore's Dilemma: In Praise of the 10,000-Mile Diet
    ReasonVids
    900 views
    Thumbnail for Scott Walker Will Survive Wisconsin Recall: Reason-Rupe Poll Results2:49
    Scott Walker Will Survive Wisconsin Recall: Reason-Rupe Poll Results
    ReasonVids
    967 views
    Thumbnail for Enraged horse kills sheep0:55
    Enraged horse kills sheep
    bestofupgoat
    424 views
    Thumbnail for Toyota CEO: This New Engine Will Destroy The Entire EV Industry! | Electric 10:03
    Toyota CEO: This New Engine Will Destroy The Entire EV Industry! | Electric
    invidious
    345 views
    Thumbnail for When reality catches up to your tiktok ass.0:58
    When reality catches up to your tiktok ass.
    bestofupgoat
    499 views
    Thumbnail for Opening To The Lion King Gold Classic Collection 2000 VHS12:19
    Opening To The Lion King Gold Classic Collection 2000 VHS
    mattknezz05
    121 views
    Thumbnail for Life Inside Australia's Holocough Camps0:45
    Life Inside Australia's Holocough Camps
    voatcatbox
    488 views
    Thumbnail for A must-have plate for for kids and their smart parents! GREAT IDEA #shorts | SMOL WOW0:24
    A must-have plate for for kids and their smart parents! GREAT IDEA #shorts | SMOL WOW
    invidious
    336 views
    Thumbnail for ‘I didn’t realize people still think socialism is a good idea.’14:25
    ‘I didn’t realize people still think socialism is a good idea.’
    ReasonVids
    854 views
    Thumbnail for 18 BEST Local Japanese CHEAP EATS in Tokyo Japan | Strictly Dumpling59:57
    18 BEST Local Japanese CHEAP EATS in Tokyo Japan | Strictly Dumpling
    invidious
    120 views
    Thumbnail for Prison for Smokers, Permits for Strippers! (Nanny of the Month, Jan '13)1:08
    Prison for Smokers, Permits for Strippers! (Nanny of the Month, Jan '13)
    ReasonVids
    899 views
    Thumbnail for The Case Against Education: Government Spending $1 Trillion a Year on Schooling Is a Waste of Money21:08
    The Case Against Education: Government Spending $1 Trillion a Year on Schooling Is a Waste of Money
    ReasonVids
    1033 views

points

Permalink
Reply
libertarian
,
reason magazine
,
reason.com
,
reason.tv
,
reasontv
,
justin monticello
,
midterms
,
election 2018
,
voting
,
voter turnout
TOS  •  Add Keywords  •  Donate  •   Analytics  •   DMCA  •   Puzzle