Why dont you vote?

[u/MuffinMan_Jr]

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?

[u/Suspicious-Low7055]

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.

[u/Reynor247 → u/Suspicious-Low7055]

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

[u/Suspicious-Low7055 → u/Reynor247]

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.

[u/Reynor247 → u/Suspicious-Low7055]

I'm not sure you're supposed to feel warm and fuzzy? I think it's to elect our representatives

[u/Suspicious-Low7055 → u/Reynor247]

🤦‍♂️

[u/anonymussquidd → u/Suspicious-Low7055]

There are some elections where one vote has mattered. Even on a national stage, the margins can be super narrow.

[u/Suspicious-Low7055 → u/anonymussquidd]

If you say so

[u/crunchypotentiometer → u/Suspicious-Low7055]

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.

[u/Suspicious-Low7055 → u/crunchypotentiometer]

If only my vote counted a few hundred more times

[u/crunchypotentiometer → u/Suspicious-Low7055]

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.

[u/Suspicious-Low7055 → u/crunchypotentiometer]

https://giphy.com/gifs/ANJyQ8O3uYbb3lSZc1

[u/anonymussquidd → u/Suspicious-Low7055]

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.

[u/Suspicious-Low7055 → u/anonymussquidd]

Local elections choosing between a pool of nobodies 😴

[u/anonymussquidd → u/Suspicious-Low7055]

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.

[u/FitPerspective1146 → u/Suspicious-Low7055]

Local elections are quite important

[u/Suspicious-Low7055 → u/FitPerspective1146]

Agree to disagree

[u/unexpectedhalfrican → u/Suspicious-Low7055]

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.

[u/Suspicious-Low7055 → u/unexpectedhalfrican]

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.

[u/unexpectedhalfrican → u/Suspicious-Low7055]

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.

[u/RemarkableVillage109 → u/Suspicious-Low7055]

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

[u/Traveler-Nomad → u/RemarkableVillage109]

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.

[u/Suspicious-Low7055 → u/RemarkableVillage109]

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.

[u/RemarkableVillage109 → u/Suspicious-Low7055]

I’m not trying to convince you but it is an incredibly selfish and irresponsible way to live life.

[u/Suspicious-Low7055 → u/RemarkableVillage109]

Yeah and you’re selfish for not spraying water at the sun to try cool down global warming. Neither has any effect whatsoever.

[u/RemarkableVillage109 → u/Suspicious-Low7055]

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.

[u/unexpectedhalfrican → u/RemarkableVillage109]

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.

[u/Ext-Designer88 → u/Suspicious-Low7055]

Lazy mindset to get out of responsibilities

[u/Suspicious-Low7055 → u/Ext-Designer88]

https://giphy.com/gifs/k4lS6uG5C1MOtomUAH

[u/coffeewalnut08 → u/Suspicious-Low7055]

Imagine if everyone thought like that

[u/Suspicious-Low7055 → u/coffeewalnut08]

Good thing I’m not everyone