I read a pretty interesting article over at the USA Today on Friday that discussed voting. The article suggests that you should not vote. The author suggests that voting doesn’t matter and you should probably just not do it. The article really caught me off guard, but I want to take a closer look at it. Does voting really matter?
In the article, author Jason Brennan argues that it really doesn’t. He cites several statistics to support. One was that unless you are breaking a tie, it really doesn’t matter. He mentions it’s a 1 in 10 million chance that you are in a swing state and have a vote to break a tie. Another suggestion is that voting is as useful as donating a PowerBall lottery ticket to wildfire relief. Chances are it won’t do much good.
The author continues and says that it really doesn’t matter which side wins. He cites a study that says that no matter which party is in power, the effects on families, economies, crime and more are essentially unchanged. One thing that is interesting, however, is that it’s ignored the generally flip flop of control that we have had in our country. We seem to go back and forth between parties which essentially reverse a lot of the legislative changes he previous administration may have made.
I started reading further and he talks about uneducated voters. As I researched the author, I came across this interview where he discusses how he believes that informed voters should carry more weight than uninformed voters. It’s an interesting thought, as uninformed voters can be frustrating to those who really dig deep and make logical conclusions. But the ability to vote is something that should not be taken lightly.
Do I agree with this author, that you should not vote? Absolutely not. I believe you should vote. I am a firm believer that people gave their lives to give us the freedom to vote and direct our country. Our founding fathers risked it all. I do agree, we have a duty to research for our vote, but we have a need for people to vote. From data, it appears that only 60% of eligible voters on average vote in our elections.
I do agree that voters should be informed. I think that we should learn what each side is offering and cast our ballots for the appropriate one. His statistics may argue that it wouldn’t matter, but what if the million people that look at that article all stay home? It actually doesn’t take that much. This NPR article talked about a lot of close races in recent years.
I understand what he is saying, but I completely disagree with this author. Voting is important. A single vote can make a difference. Being an informed voter helps you be an involved voter. Know what you are voting for and cast your vote confidently. Your candidate may win or may lose, but in the end you can take pride in knowing you did your part.
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