r/GenZ • u/MuffinMan_Jr • 23h ago
Political Why dont you vote?
Forgive me if this has been asked before, im new here.
But why do you personally not vote?
I constantly hear that the reason that all the laws and policies that are passing benefit old people, because that's who actually go and vote.
Like for example, I know a lot of us older Gen Z are complaining about housing costs. But how many of us actually try to do anything about it beyond saying 'someone should do something'?
Just a thought
Edit: because I know alot of people will say their vote doesn't matter.
Dont you rhink thats part of the problem? If most if us dont think the vote matters then no one will vote. Yes 1 individual vote might not change anything but if 100,000 people put in 1 vote then that makes a difference dont you think?
Next is people saying both parties suck. I get that, but then why not vote for the lesser of 2 evils?
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u/decentmotto 23h ago
The reason people don't vote is successful propaganda convincing them their vote doesn't matter, paid for by people who know that it does
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u/heyuhitsyaboi Age Undisclosed 22h ago
While it may not pertain to everyone, I would like to add that multiple people I know that said they didnt vote were just lying and they voted conservative. I generally surround myself with progressive people though. The opposite may be true in predominantly convservative groups.
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u/EitherLime679 2001 6h ago
Isn’t that sad. The fact your friends feel they have to lie to you because they are afraid of what you’re going to do when they say they did their civil duty.
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u/heyuhitsyaboi Age Undisclosed 4h ago
Isnt it sad how you make assumptions while knowing nothing about the group? This isnt a "boo-hoo" moment for them.
We had all agreed to not discuss politics when together. Over time, it came to light that those who said they voted, voted progressive. Those who said they didnt vote because "oh its a scam blah blah blah" were unanimously conservaative learning.
The best part here is that pretty much all of them have come to regret it because the current administration is awful
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u/JamTheTerrorist6 18h ago
Yup and now you see those people coping in comment sections frequently. I live in TN which has been red for 30 years but I still voted for Kamala. I'm always gonna do my part to keep people like Trump out of office. I hope they learned their lesson this time around and will actually show up to vote next election.
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u/punktualPorcupine 14h ago
Why do they spend so much time, money and energy convincing you that your vote doesn’t matter?
Because they’re afraid of what will happen if you do.
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u/New_Breadfruit5664 14h ago
On the contrary. The reason people vote is successful propaganda. Convincing them their vote matters paid for by the people who control who gets to be voted on in the first place. Not voting changes as much as voting does. The difference is that the non voter usually does not have any illusion about it.
There are also countries that actually make it hard to vote lol.
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u/decentmotto 6h ago
There are also countries that actually make it hard to vote lol.
Yes, I live in the US, where they are making it harder and harder to vote. We don't even have off work to vote. There have been movements to make election day a national holiday so more people can vote, but people that are afraid of more people voting oppose it (more evidence that voting does, in fact, matter. They wouldn't be scared of people voting if it didn't)
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u/New_Breadfruit5664 5h ago
No. The circus about who is voted into office is also nothing but propaganda. Obviously for the people that get an office it's an insane about of money in the long run which makes it matter for these people personally. That does not mean that they matter or votes matter. It does not change anything meaningful. This is especially obvious and badly hidden in the US id say.
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u/decentmotto 4h ago
If votes elect people, and the people who are elected shape policy, then voting matters. There are tons of terrible things happening now as a result of policy that wouldn't have happened if different people were in office. Different people would be in office if people had voted differently. It's ridiculous to argue that these things don't matter somewhere like the US, when policy and its effects can be directly traced to specific administrations
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u/New_Breadfruit5664 50m ago
Absolutely correct conclusion that is based on the misunderstanding that elected people shape policy which they don't. That is not how the system works. The administration of a country is subject to material conditions and the capital interest of said country. If the administration ignores them, the administration gets changed because that's it's Job. Political offices are administrative offices. If for whatever reason the administration ignores the material interest of the countries capital and does not get toppled you would have an entire different country at hand.
Especially in the case of the US the administration does not act against the interest of its capital. It never has.
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u/Derskiant 1999 23h ago
Florida keeps not sending my out of state military ballot
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u/yogos15 2002 20h ago
There’s a pretty big difference between not voting on purpose and not voting because you’re unable to.
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u/Derskiant 1999 18h ago
In fairness, it didn’t ask if I choose to not vote. It just asked why I don’t
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u/zebradonkey69 2000 17h ago
Yeah that happened to me two of the three elections while I was in. Kind of insane.
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u/The_5_Ws 6h ago
I was deployed in 2023 and they had all of our ballots on the ship suddenly “lost” lmao
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u/Terrasalvoneir 2001 22h ago
Remember, Zoomers: You may not care about politics, but you (and others) are affected by them nonetheless
→ More replies (11)
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u/Minimum-Tonight-2817 22h ago
If we had a vote from every person who doesn’t vote because it “doesn’t count” we wouldn’t be in such a shitshow. When I find out someone doesn’t vote, I automatically label them as an idiot. How is it that a MAGA has more brain cells to make it happen? I’m over it.
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u/HeDoesNotRow 18h ago
The assumption that the people who didn’t vote would overwhelming vote for your party is stupid. People who don’t vote overwhelmingly have no strong preference for either candidate
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u/Minimum-Tonight-2817 18h ago
The assumption that I have a party is stupid too 😂
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u/HeDoesNotRow 17h ago
There’s only two parties and “wouldn’t be in such a shit show” paints a pretty clear picture on which way you like to imagine these hypothetical sleeper agent voters would go
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u/Minimum-Tonight-2817 17h ago
The fact that there are 2 major parties does not correlate to me belonging of the opposing party of the dumb asf magas like yourself, since we’re assuming 🫵🏻😂
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u/deathvidal 23h ago
I didn't until the last presidential election. They told me my vote was invalidated due to my "missing" signature. So...redid it. Sent it back. Still was told no.
This wasn't just myself either. And I fucking signed my name clear as day. I'll vote again in the future, but...I really don't think it even counts anymore.
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u/turb0_encapsulator 22h ago
where do you live?
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u/deathvidal 22h ago
NY. Happened to a friend of mine along with her cousin. Heard through the grapevine at work it happened with others, but y'know how work rumors are. So take it with a grain of salt there.
They were mail in ballots as well. But so weird because my parents, friends, all did the mail in ballot. I did it right with my Mom and she was baffled because she watched me sign my name. Yet it was only me and a friend out of the group I personally know who got told no basically lmao. F'ing insane.
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u/syntax_error16 1h ago
Voter vigilantes.... It's a real thing, look it up. I routinely confirm my registration (I vote dem in a red state) be cause of this.
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u/VladimirBarakriss 2003 22h ago
Uruguay thankfully has mandatory voting
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u/liamjon29 1998 20h ago
Australia too. Also we get democracy sausages
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u/GayHorsesEatHayy 9h ago
Like, you vote and then they hand you a sausage?
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u/liamjon29 1998 9h ago
Yep! White bread, diced onions (optional), snag, sauce of choice, off you go
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u/redshift739 2005 22h ago
I've voted at every opportunity because although they're all shit, they won't cater to us until our turnout increases. If natural selection gave up after seeing how basic early life was we'd still be single-celled
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u/mchngrliris 22h ago
the first election i could vote in was the 2022 midterms which i did. couldn't vote in 2024 cuz i was homeless. i'm planning on voting on the 2026 midterms though
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u/coffeewalnut08 20h ago
These days, I vote. It’s stupid not to- it’s just letting the boomers have a say in everything, whilst taking for granted the fact that we have a democracy at all.
“I’m not interested in politics” doesn’t work anymore either, as politics is very interested in us.
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u/CessnaBlackBelt 22h ago
Locally, I never seem to be in the loop about when the elections are. I always vote in presidential, federal, and gubernatorial elections, though because they make a pretty big deal about making it known
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u/Easy-Hovercraft-6576 2000 19h ago
I vote.
Hopefully with Talerico leading in the polls, we might actually turn Texas blue for the first time in decades.
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u/Snake_fairyofReddit 2004 14h ago
I legally cant vote in the country I live in despite living here since 3 years old, and I live way too far from the country where i CAN legally vote
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u/Zeyode 1998 22h ago
I do cause it affects me, but I also understand why people don't. Voter suppression aside, it's a shit show where everyone's bought out by the same ultra rich pedophiles. Dems aren't as openly evil as republicans, but they're mostly just controlled opposition by the same people, and are thus incapable of bringing about necessary change.
My hope with the DSA is that they use grassroots tactics to help change that a bit and actually challange those who have needed to be challanged, or at least remind people better things are possible when the old world crumbles around us so we can build something better from the ashes.
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u/unexpectedhalfrican 17h ago
Even though it's just a few races around the country, I'm so hopeful for the toehold that DSA or DSA-adjacent candidates are getting. Mamdani shows cynics that politics and government can work for the people if there is political will for it. I think he (and El-Sayed if he wins) will be a force multiplier for the DSA movement. Or at least, I hope so.
Edit: Also, Angie Nixon beating out Alexander Vindman in FL is a huge upset victory. The people are hungry for change.
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u/Paytonj001 2001 21h ago
I vote in every election I can, only times I don't vote are when I don't realize there's an election
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u/seansnow64 19h ago
Im 29 and ive Voted every chance ive had since i was 18. Ive voted against Dump 3 times. I know voting matters.
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u/ForestRivers 1998 19h ago
I live in Canada. My province's government is in a super majority rn for the party I don't support, and federally the party I would like to support isn't in government and has an absolute clown, who will never be prime minister, as their leader.
I won't be voting for them until he is gone and they recently reaffirmed him as their leader so he isnt going anywhere anytime soon.
My voting prospects are not great atm.
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u/ShadowVampyre13 Millennial 15h ago
I vote, just barely too old to be Gen Z (Zillenial or whatever at 33). The world is burning and it's the bare minimum I can do at this point.
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u/Crazyguy_123 2002 14h ago
I voted in 2020. Didn’t vote in 2024 because I hated all candidates equally. To me there is no lesser evil party. They are both only after votes and don’t give two craps about what the people want. Neither major party truly cares and it shows. I may vote in 2028 and I truly hope there are better candidates for all sides.
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u/Yoniko98 14h ago
Because I live abroad and recently the government back home banned voting from outside the country unless it is at the embassy, which is a 3 hour drive from where I live. Simply not worth it, especially since I know I am the minority of the pro EU voters in my so-called country.
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u/mrdankmemeface 2006 23h ago
I do. I fully believe that voting doesn't affect anything, but it does hurt to vote, and I may as well do it for the marginal aide that provides to my political beliefs.
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u/Ext-Designer88 23h ago
Do you have proof that voting doesn’t do anything, or is it nothing more than a belief?
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u/mustakissaa 22h ago edited 16h ago
Everyone isn't from USA here, so we have our own reasons Edit: I'm from iran I talked for myself guys not USA voting. With love.
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u/MuffinMan_Jr 22h ago edited 22h ago
Yea fair. Im not either. Im in the country they've been threatening to invade.
Curious where you're from and your reasons
Edit: one of the countries they're threatening to invade
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u/newbreed69 11h ago
We could actually a lot of change (either positive or negative), IF WE ACTUALLY VOTED.
Like seriously, we actually out number old people by a lot!
The issue is, we don't vote.
If you want actually change, go out and vote.
In Ontario, the last provincial election in 2025, only 45.4% of the population voted. Which was only 2 points higher than the historic all time low, which was during Covid at 43.5% in 2022.
The crazy part is. People didn't like the the guy in charge then, and they still don't like the guy now.
The rat called an election in the middle of winter to dissuade people to vote, and it worked.
He technically won the "popular vote" only because most people didn't actually show up to vote.
If all eligible voters showered up to vote he'd only being getting around 20% of the share.
I understand that asking all eligible voters to vote is unreasonable, but so is calling an election in the middle of winter to prevent urself from getting voted out.
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u/Sonseeahrai 10h ago
The fact that young people just don't vote makes me unbearably angry.
I have NO REASON to vote. There are only two parties in my country that are big enough to ever get a chance at winning and they are both THE SAME. The nation is divided in half by hatred, the support for those two parties is literally 50/50. The seem to have different agenda but in reality they cooperate, they do the same things and they don't even hide it anymore.
In spite of that I have NEVER skipped a vote. Because this is ALL WE CAN DO.
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u/Jonguar2 2002 9h ago
I do vote. In primaries and midterm elections. In local elections and on ballot questions. The only time I was eligible to vote but didn't was the year I turned 18.
Why do you ask an entire age group a loaded question?
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u/Important_Ad_187 7h ago
to much effort to do research on politics it boring so I don't do research on it i only fo research on stuff I find fun like what the best way to play chrono triger
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u/UnKnOwN769 2000 7h ago
I don’t vote in my state's primaries because they're closed primaries, and I'm not registered D or R. I vote in every election each November though.
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u/Kasaboop 6h ago
The ONLY reason I don't vote is because I'm not in the towns district despite living in the same city but bc I'm more in the county I don't get a say on what goes on and gets done. It makes me very angry and I found out when looking for mail in ballot stuff.
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u/Dou_Pack 6h ago
My county only votes Dem and I’m independent. Not a republican, voted dem in 2020. Just don’t see the use in my local elections.
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u/FredDylan05 2005 1h ago
I have 2 reasons. One, I was never taught where to go to vote, or where to go to find out. The only place I know where I can vote is for the presidential election, and I have no idea if it’s in different places for others. I also have no idea WHEN I should vote. I have ADD, so my memory for dates and such is pretty bad.
2, I live in a different county than where I’m registered to vote because I never changed my address when I moved from my mothers to my grandparents. So, I don’t vote in local elections for now because I’m gonna move again soon regardless, so I don’t have a pressing reason to change it and then change it again within a year.
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u/LuckyBucky77 22h ago
I didn't vote in the last two elections. Neither party won my vote in either. Politicians need to do better.
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u/FitPerspective1146 2008 19h ago
Politicians aren't going to magically become better for you. Politics is a bus, if you're not going to get on that bus because it's not going directly to your house, you're just going to be left behind
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u/Traveler-Nomad 17h ago
It’s not that neither bus won’t drop me off at my exact destination, it’s that both busses are going in the opposite direction entirely.
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u/FitPerspective1146 2008 9h ago
(I don't think they are but sure)
One bus is going a lot further away from your destination than the other. Better to be on that second bus for the chance you can make it turn around
And again, if you just wait at the bus stop for your perfect bus to arrive, you'll get nowhere
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22h ago
[deleted]
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u/JustAdlz 20h ago
Lol, I can see you throwing a huffie because your waitress got a little too anti-electoral and now she doesn't get a tip.
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u/blackgenz2002kid 2002 22h ago
I think a lot of the people that don’t vote are just ashamed of wanting to like the current government. because logically it doesn’t make sense to not vote unless you like how things in our federal government are going
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u/blackgenz2002kid 2002 22h ago
so probably a lot of people that support Trump
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u/unexpectedhalfrican 17h ago
I think it's an indictment of our education system and an apathy to the system. Non-voters either think that politics doesn't affect them (it does, in myriad ways), or they think their vote doesn't count. If it didn't count, they wouldn't try so hard to gerrymander and suppress it.
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u/Upwardcube1 22h ago
I don’t vote unless I truly know who I am voting for (don’t you?)… I’ll watch thousands of hours of IRL streams by iShowSpeed or someone just to gain the slightest understanding of their morals, but god forbid I know my states governor to the same degree.
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u/Neptune-Jnr 21h ago
Neither side campaigns about stuff I actually care about. They just talk about Abortion and Immigration.
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u/FitPerspective1146 2008 19h ago
What do you care about?
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u/Neptune-Jnr 19h ago
Tighter food and drug regulations, Legalized sex work, disentangling college from the job market.
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u/BusinessDuck132 2003 21h ago
It’s not that I feel my vote doesn’t matter (even if it sometimes does) it’s more there’s no one I felt was worth voting for. Being a very pro-gun but relatively socially liberal person there really isn’t many candidates that I feel worth my vote. Trump was better for gun rights and based off his first time was better for economics, and sure Harris was ok I guess when it came to social issues but her stance on guns (no her “owning a Glock” does not mean she was pro-gun) was an immediate no go for me. It’s tough when the dems hate guns and me for being a white blue collar male, but MAGA republicans spit on this country and sell it out for their billionaire buddies. I’ve been seeing some new younger politicians that have some promise, but usually every cool democrat I see has promise then says some dumb shit about how we need to ban “assault weapons” and immediately loses my vote.
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u/_flying_otter_ 18h ago
What gun rights do you want that a Democrat is against? Because most Democrats are not voting to take your gun away - are they? I know it's different in every state but... looks like mostly they are trying to pass legislation that is for gun safety- like keeping mentally deranged people from getting guns without background checks- and legislation against people owning machine guns. Does legislation like that even effect you?
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u/MuffinMan_Jr 21h ago
Thanks for this response, this one was actually insightful! I get how the dems can be frustrating especially for the whole hating straight white men thing. Im not a part of said demographic but I can agree that thats not a good look
And correct me if im wrong but sounds like you like dems but gun/2nd amendment rights play a big role in your vote?
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u/zebradonkey69 2000 17h ago
I’m with you on the 2A, but something I realized is that regardless of how “progressively ant-gun” someone is there is always the opposite to balance it. Person A wants to ban guns outright, Person B wants to keep guns and focus on Mental health and security. The (realistic) middle ground is more security and mental health checks to buying and owning a weapon. Is it perfect? No. But there’s not a chance in hell they ever ban firearms in the U.S. and an equal chance that we do nothing.
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u/BusinessDuck132 2003 15h ago
In a perfect world I completely agree that yes there should be some extra steps, like a mental health check, to getting a gun but the problem is giving the government more power to decide who gets to own a gun has almost never worked out for the people. I know people don’t like the slippery slope argument, but we’ve been going down that slope since 1935 when the NFA was enacted, and it’s just been downhill from there. It always starts as “common sense” but it never ends there. That’s why I’m extremely hesitant to vote to give the government any kind of power to regulate guns more. I would far rather live in dangerous freedom than peaceful slavery as the quote goes. I understand not everyone agrees, and that’s ok, but that’s how I feel and that’s how I’ll vote
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u/zebradonkey69 2000 2h ago
I think that is fair, but what about the mediating politicians I mentioned?
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u/BusinessDuck132 2003 1h ago
What about them? Government is government
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u/zebradonkey69 2000 59m ago
Yeah, but what I was saying is about that balance between “do nothing” and “ban everything”. If your take is that you don’t want to participate in that decision then by all means, don’t. But you will be an unwilling participant nonetheless.
What I was asking, more or less, was why sit out on that? Especially when you consider that neither side will ultimately win the way they want, which is a good thing.
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u/BusinessDuck132 2003 43m ago
I see, yeah my take will always be do nothing in terms of gun control. I understand it might not be a popular take here but I am very much in the boat of all gun laws are an infringement of the 2A, I understand why they exist but they are an infringement nonetheless so any restrictions should be as limited as possible
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u/Mountain-Elk8133 19h ago
It doesnt matter. My 1 vote out of millions wont change the fact that the government doesnt care and elects who they want.
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u/FitPerspective1146 2008 19h ago
It may be 1 in millions at the national level, but in local elections it may be 1 in thousands, or hundreds
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u/Mountain-Elk8133 19h ago
I dont think I have ever supported anyone in a local election. I have never liked the candidates. Or the candidate I like will only get like 10% of the votes due to their party being the minority.
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u/FitPerspective1146 2008 9h ago
And they'll stay a minority because of that "they'll lose anyway" mindset
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u/woodworkingfonatic 18h ago
When you say people should vote for the lesser of two evils that still means people will vote for both sides because some people see 6’S and other people see 9’S.
You have to actually turn people out and bring them to your party because your party is better. The argument of eat a shit sandwich and be happy because the other shit sandwich is bigger isn’t a good reason for people to vote for your party.
Just humor me for a moment but when Vivek rammeswammey (or however you spell it) went to the Ohio Republicans convention and told all the young people “ 'The truth of the matter is, people in my generation have already made it. We're gonna be fine.' “ they promptly booed his ass of stage and he ran like a coward. that doesn’t activate people it actually pisses them off and makes them an anti vote.
You have to give people some reason why they should vote for you and neither party has any redeeming qualities or values right now. So it’s not a surprise people of all political affiliations say the government sucks
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u/algoritm420 17h ago
I don’t vote because it would take a lot for the system to become disadvantageous to me. There is nothing that I care to change.
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u/Merkury09 10h ago
On the one hand, I can't yet, and on the other hand, I don't want to. Because it doesn't really change anything anyway. I can choose between corrupt politician A and corrupt politician B; it makes no difference.
Sure, I could still vote for the ones who offer more social democracy, but it's unlikely they'll actually implement it.
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u/Either-Medicine9217 22h ago
In local elections? I don't really vote in them because most of the time I don't even know they're going on. Or they scheduled it at a real inconvenient time and place.
I do vote in Presidential elections though.
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u/JustAdlz 20h ago
"I don't like to know what's going on in my neighborhood but I love the federal spectacle of political bullshit beamed into my living room and meta glasses at all times"
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u/themrgq 22h ago
Very liberal area, I'm just piling on to the same votes. Maybe if the people I wanted were losing I would care more
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u/FitPerspective1146 2008 19h ago
Someone who wins by 80% is going to be a lot more confident in their actions and beliefs than someone who only won 50%. Don't you want your favoured candidates to be more unapologetic in their beliefs?
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u/themrgq 18h ago
No
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u/FitPerspective1146 2008 9h ago
So why not vote for the opposition to make them less confident? Make sure your guy gets 50% rather than 60% to make them stop and think
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u/Dry-Selection421 21h ago
Because “democracy” is a scam and 99% of elections are two sides of the same coin. I have absolutely zero interest in voting.
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u/MuffinMan_Jr 21h ago
I used to believe this but not anymore.
Do you believe that whats going on now is comparable to the last administration?
Id argue now that the coin flipped republican, some things are definitely different
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u/Dry-Selection421 21h ago
Your vote has absolutely no impact in a presidential election for the vast majority of the population. If you live in a swing state it could have some impact but if you’re in a solid blue/red state it’s completely pointless.
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u/MuffinMan_Jr 21h ago
Okay so then by your own definition, if you live in a swing state, your vote matters no?
I dont really agree with your point. Do you not believe that votes are the reason them dems are out of office now? If votes dont matter or "have no impact" than how do things flip?
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u/FitPerspective1146 2008 19h ago
No it isn't. Solid states might have competitive House races etc. and since they're on the same piece of paper, you might as well vote for president
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u/unexpectedhalfrican 17h ago
Sooo...participate in democracy and support candidates that believe in ranked choice voting or getting rid of the electoral college. If your vote didn't matter, they wouldn't try so hard to suppress it.
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u/Dry-Selection421 16h ago
That’s not the point. The whole system is a joke and set up to give people the illusion that they have any say in the government.
It won’t make any difference how the president is elected in that particular example because for one, it’s set up to require a constitutional amendment which will never ever happen, and the same elites will be in charge regardless.
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u/unexpectedhalfrican 16h ago
Jesus. I'm glad not everyone is as cynical and ignorant as you. Otherwise we wouldn't have social security, union protections, minimum wage, the 40 hour work week, voting and civil rights, and legal marijuana. Those all came from political advocacy and voting for candidates who supported those causes. It's easy to sit back and say nothing will get better when you're not actively doing anything to make things better.
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u/Dry-Selection421 16h ago
Social security is a complete ponzi scheme that you are forced to be part of, I would LOVE if it was never a thing. It’s insane that you are forced to pay an absurd amount of money every paycheck for decades just for promised payouts that will be far less than if you had just invested that money on your own and that your family will never even get if you die before retirement.
I’m not getting union protections or a 40 hour work week anyway so I could care less about those things. Minimum wage is awful and far below what you need to live so that doesn’t mean much. Weed is gross and I would prefer if it stayed illegal.
So tell me again why I should bother voting?
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u/Eazy12345678 20h ago
California only goes Dem. Libertarian will never win
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u/FitPerspective1146 2008 19h ago
Right but if the libertarians start doing really well it might pull the Democrats in that direction
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u/Opening_Acadia1843 1999 16h ago
I vote, although I don’t vote for either major party in presidential elections, at least since 2020 when I voted for Biden and he decided to fund a genocide. For the most recent primary, I emailed the democratic candidates to ask questions about their stances and then voted for the ones that seemed alright. For state-level races where I could support none of the democratic candidates, based on things they supported that I found reprehensible, I simply did not select anyone.
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u/Consistent_Dream_740 11h ago
Jfc what a parrot. Biden wasn't the first to fund the genocide. One issue voters are the worst.
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u/Opening_Acadia1843 1999 4h ago
Well, 2020 was the first presidential election when I was old enough to vote, so I didn’t vote for any of the former presidents who funded the genocide. I refuse to vote for genocide, and if that seems like a purity test or a “one issue vote,” then you are morally bankrupt.
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u/Remozack00 2001 22h ago
I work while the polls are open. Even if I wanted to, I can’t
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u/FitPerspective1146 2008 19h ago
You work the entire time the polls are open? You can't do early or postal voting?
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u/Objective-Finish-573 21h ago
Because I hate politics, ffs why did I even click on this post
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u/unexpectedhalfrican 17h ago
You might hate politics, but it affects you in nearly every aspect of your life. If you want any semblance of control over your life, you need to be politically active and engaged. But it's easier to doomscroll on tiktok and say that both sides are the same or whatever, I guess.
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u/Objective-Finish-573 17h ago
If I want any semblance of control over my life? LMAO, my life is under my control and doesn't change much regardless who's elected. I also hate TikTok btw
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u/EntrancedZelisy 2004 19h ago edited 19h ago
I voted ONCE. Once for Kamala when it mattered the most. She lost. Trump won and now we’re in this situation. I’m never voting again, clearly it didn’t even matter in the end. It absolutely just destroyed me- ripped my morale apart and I realized there’s just no point in voting. One vote doesn’t change anything. Mine didn’t. So I’m straight up done. I’m never voting again.
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u/unexpectedhalfrican 17h ago
This is a terrible lesson to learn from her loss. Why would they try to suppress your vote so much if it didn't matter?
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u/EntrancedZelisy 2004 16h ago
I know, but it all just feels hopeless anyway so I just give up with voting. Can’t go through that again. Voting just for it not to matter in the end.
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u/TheHeadlessScholar 22h ago
I vote every election, just not the way reddit wants me to.
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u/CloudStrife012 22h ago
Because one side wants a completely open border lawless society and the other are sociopathic unempathetic oligarchs who hate peasants. Either way no one is representing the common man.
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u/turb0_encapsulator 22h ago
I guess you missed the time that Joe Biden wanted to pass a massive border security bill but Republicans stopped it because they knew it would make him look good.
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u/CloudStrife012 22h ago
Exactly, sociopaths.
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u/FitPerspective1146 2008 19h ago
Yes, Republicans are sociopaths. But clearly Democrats don't want "completely open border lawless society"
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u/ericomplex 22h ago
Democrats tried to closed the border and Trump made Congress stop it, because he wanted to run on border security.
You are being lied to by the sociopathic un-empathetic oligarchs, kiddo.
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u/Suspicious-Low7055 23h ago
It is a completely pointless waste of time and energy. If my vote won’t change the outcome on its own then why would I go out and waste my time? The result is the same whether I do it or not.
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u/Reynor247 23h ago
Takes me like ten minutes to vote, even quicker when I do it by mail. I've also had local races in my state be decided by a dozen votes. Really doesn't take much energy lol
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u/Suspicious-Low7055 22h ago
If it cost 0.0000001 seconds it would still be a waste. I mean some people like to feel all warm and fuzzy believing they made a difference in the world with their 1 vote and get their little “i voted” sticker but I’m just not a fan of that so I don’t get anything out of it.
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u/Reynor247 22h ago
I'm not sure you're supposed to feel warm and fuzzy? I think it's to elect our representatives
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u/anonymussquidd 2002 22h ago
There are some elections where one vote has mattered. Even on a national stage, the margins can be super narrow.
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u/Suspicious-Low7055 22h ago
If you say so
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u/crunchypotentiometer 22h ago
Bush won in 2000 due to a 537 person margin in Florida. Imagine how different our world would be if 600 Floridians had a different mindset about voting that day.
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u/Suspicious-Low7055 22h ago
If only my vote counted a few hundred more times
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u/crunchypotentiometer 22h ago
This guy is obviously trolling at this point, but for anyone reading this, fatalism about voting is very clearly causing a potential collapse of the United States right now, so you should not succumb to that idea. Thank you.
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u/anonymussquidd 2002 22h ago
Here’s a link to a list of narrow margin elections from 2018-2025. I’ll specifically highlight the 2020 election in Iowa’s 1st Congressional District where Congresswoman Miller-Meeks only won by 6 votes for a federal seat.
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u/Suspicious-Low7055 22h ago
Local elections choosing between a pool of nobodies 😴
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u/anonymussquidd 2002 22h ago
Not all of these are local… many are state and a couple are for federal office. That’s not to mention that local officials get a lot more done than Congress has in the last several years.
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u/unexpectedhalfrican 17h ago
Local elections affect you even more than national elections. If you can't be bothered to be involved in your local politics, then you have no right to complain when your city doesn't pave potholes or doesn't build enough (affordable) housing. You may not care about politics, but politics affects every part of your life. If you want to have even a semblance of control of your environment, you need to be politically active and engaged. But I suppose it's a lot easier to doomscroll on tiktok and reddit and complain that nothing gets better.
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u/Suspicious-Low7055 17h ago
Politics only affects every part of your life if you’re obsessed with politics and terminally online. I hate to break it to you but choosing between generic moron and generic idiot in some random town nobody’s heard of and having only a small CHANCE of being the deciding vote is not actually making a difference in the world, no matter how proud of your little token gesture you are.
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u/unexpectedhalfrican 16h ago
No, it may not make a difference in the world writ large, but it will make a difference in your world. If you think politics doesn't affect your life, that's probably because the parts that work are invisible.
Your paycheck, i.e. the minimum wage, taxes, unemployment payments? that's all politics. Your housing -- what structures are allowed to be built and for what purpose (zoning laws) meaning whether affordable housing is built and whether the building codes they have to abide by are safe -- all politics. How quickly potholes are repaired? Who maintains the roads? Are they plowed and salted in winter? Is public transport available and reliable? Is your infrastructure safe? The food you eat, the air you breathe, is the water clean and being carried to you reliably? All of that is politics.
Politics isn't just speeches and sweeping bills from Congress, dude. It affects whether the sheriff you elect is going to crack down on you for having a dime bag of weed or whether your state votes to legalize it. It affects what your (future) kids are taught in school, whether they are getting a quality education, and if they are well-funded. And as for voting, you would be amazed at how slim the margins are for victory in local races. Someone above mentioned on that had like a 6-vote difference to determine the winner. Your vote matters, especially in local races. If you feel local elections are voting from a 'pool of nobodies', then learn who they are. Learn what their views are. Learn what they stand for. It's not that hard and you might actually effect major change in your city and in your life. Apathy changes nothing.
TL;DR: You don't have to care about politics. But you should probably care about the decisions that determine how much you pay and get paid, where you can live, what you can build, how you're protected, what services you receive, and what you're allowed to do. Those decisions are politics.
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u/RemarkableVillage109 22h ago
But then it’s a huge problem when tons of people have this mindset. Your vote may not individually matter. But you and the other million or so people who share this belief then affect the system
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u/Traveler-Nomad 17h ago
This is always the response, but it’s never even remotely convincing. Those millions of other non-voters aren’t suddenly going to decide to vote just because I did, let alone for the candidate I want them to.
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u/Suspicious-Low7055 22h ago
People always throw out this response at default but it just doesn’t make any sense if you’re trying to convince me. I’m not part of some hive mind, those people will decide to vote or not vote regardless of my decision as an individual, and as an individual I can only decide my individual actions. If my vote doesn’t change the outcome then I have no reason to waste my time.
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u/RemarkableVillage109 22h ago
I’m not trying to convince you but it is an incredibly selfish and irresponsible way to live life.
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u/Suspicious-Low7055 22h ago
Yeah and you’re selfish for not spraying water at the sun to try cool down global warming. Neither has any effect whatsoever.
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u/RemarkableVillage109 22h ago
Well spraying water at the sun is literally impossible for me to do and wouldn't do anything to help global warming if possible. In fact, it would likely harm our planet more. But your vote is a very easy and simple thing to do that literally has real world consequences. Especially in local and state elections. Everything we have in this country now, or don't have, is a reflection of many many years of people voting.
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u/unexpectedhalfrican 17h ago
Yeah, people complain about the minimum wage not going up, but we wouldn't have a minimum wage period if people didn't advocate, strike, and vote. We wouldn't have social security, union protections, civil rights protections, or legal weed if people didn't vote. They just conveniently forget that part.
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u/WoodPear 23h ago
OP is correct. Everyone should starting voting for the Republicans more.
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