US Election
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@Ayespy said in US Election:
That said, by percentage, we had the lowest voter turnout since 2000, so roughly 25% of the electorate, abetted by nearly 50% layabouts, elected him
This is what I cannot understand. With such a contentious vote why abstain? Surely if one disliked both candidates one could vote on party preference? Or, surely one could dislike one more than the other?
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@g_bartsch - Americans are extremely lazy about their civic responsibilities. Having two hated candidates just makes them that much less motivated.
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@Steffie - Just struck me: I've a nephew who, with his wife, lives in Melbourne. He's prolly 45, and I think retired US Navy. Now works in AU in defense and aerospace.
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@Ayespy - Interesting.
It seems to me civic duty is something different than self preservation which is why I assumed people would have been eager to get out and vote for the candidate whose win would mean they would be screwed less.
So if Americans are lazy in civic duties this means those non-voters have no right to complain if the country goes in a direction they don't like?
Still, fascinating to learn this.
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@g_bartsch - They are not only lazy about civic responsibility, but also engage in low-effort thinking, ie: "They're all just as bad, so why bother?"
This could not be further from the truth, but it IS the truth of the lazy and low-effort thinkers. We also refer to them as low-info "voters" when they do vote. They engage in false equivalences and failure to parse data as a habit of thought - often as a mental defense against trying to defend something they actually KNOW is bad. They simply resort to: "Well, the other side is just as bad." "Both parties are rotten to the core." "All politicians lie," etc.
And, no, if they didn't vote they have no room to complain. They also have no room to complain if they did vote, their guy won, he does exactly what he said he'd do, and the results are catastrophic. They complain anyway. When their chosen course of action leads to disaster, they always blame someone who was not involved for failing to prevent the outcome they sought.
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@g_bartsch Non-voting is not a simple matter of laziness.
There are principled non-voters - those who have rationale for consistently abstaining from political voting
There are protest non-voters - not voting because of dissatisfaction with a given election (candidates, issues, etc.)
There are resigned non-voters - believing their vote will not affect the outcome. Many times this is poll driven ( as it almost certainly was in this case) - Polls show a lopsided contest, so voters stay away in droves as the outcome is a foregone conclusion
There are disinterested non-voters - people who don't care about the outcome of a given election.
Non of these are necessarily lazy - just willing to accept the consequences of their decision not to vote, same as those who are willing to accept the consequences having voted for the losing candidate -
@booBot -- How dare you! As an LGBTI woman i challenge any logical, intellectual or ethical basis for your disgusting words. Shame on you for you bigotry & ignorance. How do you sleep at night, or look yourself in the mirror, with such a toxic attitude?
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@booBot No, that's fine. Hitler shared the same disgust and everyone liked that fella.
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@booBot Hmmm, landscape versus portrait pictures.
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as much as i enjoy fighting over our differences, i want to support @robertbrenner , who made a nuanced view of an emotional topic. i would also like to talk bout voting. there are other ways to affect political change than voting. economic decisions influence politics, arguably more than votes. i live in the us. i voted, not for trump. as much as i dislike his opinions/history/everything, i like that he opposes the trans-pacific partnership. every four years the us gets scared that this year is different because x, y, and z. i got scared. fear fueled my vote. i saw my prefered candidate lose nomination, and i voted anyway. as a us citizen i would like to remind everyone that the election is designed to be fair by allowing everyone to be unhappy a year later, regardless of the outcome.
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Next US election I want a boring event between two stodgy candidates and no drama.
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Well it has been interesting so far. I can't say I'm sad that Trump was elected as the democrat party pushed so many people away by doing stupid things that hurt America.
Time will tell how this goes, but right now it looks like the world didn't end, and I haven't seen the type of abuses that were happening during the last administration.
I do wonder if people will have to continue to fear being physically attacked should they admit they voted for Trump. Those actions and attempting to stage an ill thought out revolt against the government seem to be very foolish strategies to try to change people's minds. -