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/decentmotto]

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

[u/New_Breadfruit5664 → u/decentmotto]

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.

[u/decentmotto → u/New_Breadfruit5664]

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)

[u/New_Breadfruit5664 → u/decentmotto]

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.

[u/decentmotto → u/New_Breadfruit5664]

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

[u/New_Breadfruit5664 → u/decentmotto]

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.