belezabaub

I just think to consider voting as a duty is very silly. I think voting should not be done just because it would be 'unamerican' or 'undemocratic' not to. Nationalism nor sense of civic duty should not come into whether you vote or not. You should vote for the right reasons.

Low turnout in elections is not neccessarily a bad thing for democracy. It shows politicians that their policies aren't what people want or their message isn't reaching the whole demographic of the electorate. Ustwo is spot on about education. My Granmother votes on whether the person seems a nice man or not. She votes because she thinks that what you should do. I'm not saying her vote shouldn't count but what I am saying is democracy only truely works if people are educated enough to make informed decisions. This relates to the press as well. There is not enough done to make programs or news stories of serious content, instead we are presented with sensationalized and sometimes very one sided shit, that Goebbels would be proud of.

I personally am highly skeptical of politicians and the political system both in the UK and US. However this is my opinion. I would never encourage people not to vote but before they do I would ask them to vote for the right reasons. Do not vote simply because you live in a democracy. Do not vote because of any benign sense of nationalism or civic duty. Do not vote because someone tells you must. Vote because that person/party represents your values and is who you want to have in charge. If they do not, why are you giving them power?