http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/05/opinion/liu-not-voting-for-suckers/index.html?sr=sharebar_twitter
Critics such as Brand may be astute in their diagnosis, but they're deluded in their prescription. There is no such thing as not voting. In a democracy, not voting is voting -- for all that you detest and oppose.
perhaps prior to now. perhaps.
but not now.
what if office means less and less.
what if voting becomes more of a daily, 24/7 conversation..
more of a fittingness..
While abstaining from the ballot can be dressed up as an act of passive resistance, it is in fact an active delivery of power and voice to those who'd like to take advantage of you. Far from weakening an unjust system, not voting only amplifies the system's pain-inflicting power.
unless it doesn't.
Politics may indeed be sordid, but it changes only to the extent we aggregate votes.
yeah. perhaps we don't understand that.. how that aggregation could indeed work.
for humanity..
To be sure, today's political debate is too narrow, disallowing ideas such as a guaranteed minimum income or single-payer health care. But it also, at least for now, disallows a dismantling of Social Security or repeal of civil rights laws. The question is this: Which set of disallowed ideas would you hate to see become law? And what's more likely to usher in what you fear -- voting or not voting?
sounds just like the ed reformers and innovators..
spinach or rock ness
Brand and his fans speak vaguely of the need for a "revolution" to upend everyday democracy. It turns out everyday democracy already provides for revolution. In the 2012 election, youth voters, low-income voters, Latino voters and Asian voters all turned out at less than 50%. Mobilize 100% of them and our nation's political priorities become completely different and our government radically more responsive to all the people.
not when the options are set.
there are other ways to - vote - so to speak.. than voting as we know it.
no?
what if we let it be more about a decision, for a gathering/community.. in the context of life.. rather than an event all its own.. that perhaps is currently taking up too much of our time/money/energy .. and then too .. perhaps ... is - after all the fanfare/tradition/time lapse of voting ness - no longer the most effective/relevant/humane means of communication/collaboration/co-creation.
http://redefineschool.com/voting/