I Didn't Vote.

Originally posted by Revealation
I didn't vote, don't vote, have NEVER voted and will NEVER vote as long as I live.

I honestly can't believe people are so pathetically gullible to think that their vote actually will change anything.

If Voting changed ANYTHING, it would be ILLEGAL

Honestly, how would you truly know who won the election. You're only taking the words of these people. It's not as if everyone in the country gets to go over the ballots to see the results. More American Propoganda B/S.

They do what they want. They make the laws and break the laws and are NEVER held accountable. They are CRIMINALS. Every last one of them.

As far as I'm concerned, everybody should do whatever they want. Why follow laws if THEY don't?

I truly can't belive some people honestly DON"T see the big picture. Take a deep breath and step outside the box. Clear your mind and see reality, not the dillusional reqality your mind has been programmed to believe.

Wake up you LAB RATS

[edit on 5-11-2008 by Revealation]

[edit on 5-11-2008 by Revealation]

[edit on 5-11-2008 by Revealation]

If I may add , as I agree with you. We also should be allowed to aquire huge indebtedness without being held accountible! We shouldn't be losing our homes, jobs to overseas, etc. Yet we have to pay our taxes and indebedness or pay the piper so to speak.

Vote for who?
They are the same and I don't support a 2 party system.
[snip] it.
Peace



Mod Edit: Profanity/Circumvention Of Censors – Please Review This Link.


[edit on 5-11-2008 by 12m8keall2c]

what is wrong with you people?... even if the election is rigged, isnt it worth it to get off you lazy arses and voice your vote for a 3rd party candidate?!

libertarians?
green party?
nader?

even if its rigged: you voted for nothing, and nothing is what you deserve

Well, I suppose if enough people refuse to vote, we'll find out one way or another won't we?

My opinion, and my opinion only.

I feel very sorry for people who feel so helpless and at the whim of the powers that be, that they refuse to participate in the society. I'll assume you're also tossing trash out of the car windows.

I suppose if you are diagnosed with a terminal illness, you'll refuse treatment on the grounds that "it won't make any difference anyway."

It took me all of 15 minutes to cast a vote. Did it really mean anything? I don't know for sure.....but I did it. And if it is meaningless, wow.....I gave up a grand total of 30 minutes of time driving to a polling place and voting. I can sacrifice that much time for an ideal at least. It's far less effort than I spend here on ATS with my stupid jokes and bizarre insights no one seems to get.

Refusing to participate is the most pointless form of protest I can imagine.

Originally posted by LadyPropag8r
reply to post by Djdoubt03

 

** Nice guns ya got there....hope ya get to keep em.

Lol believe it or not I'm all for taking away your right to own an arsenal. My avatar is just an expression of my favorite past time, Video Gaming, and has nothing to do with the right to bear arms. I'm very against real world violence but am all for shooting a video game person in the face at close range.lol but I think this has gotten off topic now sorry.

[edit on 11/5/08 by Djdoubt03]

Originally posted by MrPenny
Well, I suppose if enough people refuse to vote, we'll find out one way or another won't we?

My opinion, and my opinion only.

I feel very sorry for people who feel so helpless and at the whim of the powers that be, that they refuse to participate in the society. I'll assume you're also tossing trash out of the car windows.

* Nope, I am a very tidy person.

I suppose if you are diagnosed with a terminal illness, you'll refuse treatment on the grounds that "it won't make any difference anyway."

*Actually I am diagnosed with symptomatic Pineal Brain Cyst ..It is extremely rare, my personal life verses political feelings are two seperate issues.

It took me all of 15 minutes to cast a vote. Did it really mean anything? I don't know for sure.....but I did it. And if it is meaningless, wow.....I gave up a grand total of 30 minutes of time driving to a polling place and voting. I can sacrifice that much time for an ideal at least. It's far less effort than I spend here on ATS with my stupid jokes and bizarre insights no one seems to get.

* It would have taken me a three hour wait and only to have our sysmtems crash and dop I really feel they counted and retrieved the votes?

Refusing to participate is the most pointless form of protest I can imagine.

It is my right to feel that I didn't have a choice. I research not only USA News but International News as well and did not like what information I was turning up. I did not want any candidate not did I feel any independant ticket was qualified to staighten out this. The lesser of two evils would remain an evil. I am not protesting but didn't feel i had been given a true choice.

[edit on 5-11-2008 by LadyPropag8r]

Originally posted by MrPenny
Refusing to participate is the most pointless form of protest I can imagine.

It's not a protest, really. It's a recognition that the only two people who had any real chance at winning were basically walking/talking slogans.

Most people who vote because it is their 'civil duty' and an 'illusory right' have no idea why they are voting for their candidate. If you show any interest in either campaign, you get bombarded with emails and letters that not only decry the opposition but are intentionally worded so as to make their candidate seem like the second coming.

I consider myself a fairly informed individual and as well think that I can get to the core of any topic. The slogans didn't deserve my attention when all they could tell me was that 'things are going to change'...

I took some offense at their attempts to placate and rally my interests with abstracts and ideology. Not one debate or speech I heard told me anything of substance.

Originally posted by MemoryShock
It's not a protest, really.

It's not? So why are you on your soapbox now....decrying the poor choices and "manufactured" candidates?

Was it the desire for idle chit-chat that nudged you to start a thread with the title, "I Didn't Vote?" And I disagree with your assessment that you can legitimately complain after refusing to participate. The farmer who refuses to help sandbag the levee, regardless of the futility, cannot complain about other people's poor efforts when the river washes his crops from the floodplain.

It's not right to pass judgment on a system that you don't take part in. Paying your taxes, keeping a job, mowing the lawn, etc.....has nothing to do with the voting process. I voted, and I'm still doing those same things. So throwing those out as your "contributions" to the civic good is pointless. You and I are going to perform those duties whether we vote or not.

And as people have mentioned.....if you don't like the choices, write in a name. I don't know your history, but when I meet people who have voluntarily joined the military and been thrown into combat.....it makes those that refuse to participate without the guns and blood, look kinda' bad in my eyes.

And finally......are you sure you didn't vote because you're afraid of disappointment? I gotta' tell you....I'm certainly disappointed in the choice I made last time. Learned a lesson too....sometimes we make sucky choices. Or are you really that mired in hopelessness that you just "give up?" I think your reasons for not voting are flimsy at best. Particularly when the effort you put into ATS is given as some leveling process.......your efforts made such little difference, that you still didn't feel the urge to vote. Tilting at windmills comes to mind.

Edited to add......

Slogans and abstracts are all you got from the candidates? You could find nothing of substance here, or here? How about here? If not, where are you getting your info from?

[edit on 5-11-2008 by MrPenny]

[edit on 5-11-2008 by MrPenny]

I feel like the dumbing down of America is very apparent. We allow people to vote on important things that effect our life and most of them have not one clue of what they are voting for! I am 19 and an independent. I look at the Platform of the canidate not the race! I voted intelligently and as effectively as i could but please beaware all BUSH HATERS the president does not run the country CONGRESS does. The only reason Obama won is because he is a Democrat and the Democrats Controll The House of Representitives and The Sentate!

I didn't vote either and that is my right, so I don't give a what anyone else thinks about it.

Fortunately for you, you have the choice whether to vote or not. Here in Australia we get FINED if we don't vote. I have my doubts at any election, and fixing any election is way within the power of any government... Obama won, and that in itself is good, but I am quite certain regardless of if Obama or McCain won, it would make almost no difference apart from who you see when a Presidential statement is being broadcast on TV.

I just wish I weren't FORCED to vote each time, yet being fined for a 'right/privilege' is ridiculous.

EDIT: FOR GRAMMAR.

[edit on 5-11-2008 by MereMugglePop]

DOUBLE EDIT: Btw im not racist but anyway.. I have to add this too. In a country with a vast majority of white people, why exactly did McCain lose? He had the experience, war record and etc to make a good replacement for the Good ol Mr War (Bush). I suspect that it was since he had only been a polly for what, 4 years? That the U.S knew their people were sick of War Mongers, and wanted a seemingly Peaceful, guy represented 'change', and not all about war, oil and etc...

So they bring in the first ever black president, complete with lovely family (Im Australian, but I prefered Obama, over that wrinkly McCain anyway, and Sarah Palin in my view was just a gun totin CowGal it seemed...) who represented the 'CHANGE' that America were begging for, especially after all this WAR, OIL, 7/11, economy etc that has headlined newspapers for far too long, and the USA public needed some new things to headline the papers to help them forget what had transpired.

I mean,

[edit on 5-11-2008 by MereMugglePop]

Originally posted by MrPenny
It's not? So why are you on your soapbox now....decrying the poor choices and "manufactured" candidates?

Certainly no soapbox...I am doing what I always have done on ATS, and that is to state my opinions and perceptions. That is all.

And I disagree with your assessment that you can legitimately complain after refusing to participate. The farmer who refuses to help sandbag the levee, regardless of the futility, cannot complain about other people's poor efforts when the river washes his crops from the floodplain.

I think you are fallaciously comparing the act of voting with helping someone in an emergency situation. Completely over stretching that one.

It's not right to pass judgment on a system that you don't take part in.

Um...prove it. There is nothing anywhere that says a third party observer cannot have an opinion regarding his/hers assessment. I see and respect your decision, but one thing that should be made clear is that I never once tried to pass off my opinion to others and as well made no efforts at all to judge people for having voted. They want to, they may.

I did however, ask a few questions, but they were merely an effort to hopefully showcase that fact that the elective process is akin to the ten minute hate. Get everyone riled up idealogically and then let that induced reaction carry the association that they are a part of the system. If anything, it should be noted that there are people who use their right to vote in a reactionary fashion.

So perhaps the elitist in me decided to not lump myself in with the moronic masses who are given a choice and invariably think that those are the only options. And you know full well that many Americans have no idea who Ron Paul is and nor do they care. Marking in a third party candidate in this day and age is like talking in a vaccum...what good is it if noone hears? For the fuzzy feeling that goes along with the delusion that something was actually accomplished?

Please...

And as people have mentioned.....if you don't like the choices, write in a name. I don't know your history, but when I meet people who have voluntarily joined the military and been thrown into combat.....it makes those that refuse to participate without the guns and blood, look kinda' bad in my eyes.

Your opinion and one you should consider opening up on a bit. You are as well correct that you are unaware of my history. Check the third link in my signature for a hint and then perhaps you may gain a bit of insight.

And finally......are you sure you didn't vote because you're afraid of disappointment?

Absolutely certain. This is a conspiracy website and some of us have actually participated in 'conspiracies'. It really gives you perspective when focusing on the big picture...

I'll thank you for not judging my choice...and I can assure you that I will be complaining should I see fit (though I think that for social reasons, the American Population made the correct decision).

Edit for Spelling

[edit on 5-11-2008 by MemoryShock]

How sad. You're giving up your right to vote, which people have fought and died for because you believe it all to be a game? Simply stepping back and not participating is a cop out. There is a point where the conspiracy theories take us too far from reality. ATS is not just about government conspiracies, its about sifting through the confusion and disnfo of the MSM to find the truth. The facts are out there, it is up to you to dig them up. Its not about party affiliation. I'm a Obama and Dr. Paul supporter. Judge by character, by record, by ideals, not by theories. Fear and cynicism can only serve you so much.

reply to post by MemoryShock


Well written response.

Sorry for this post, but edited my last to add to the conversation. Cheers. Thought it best to state my non-usa views about my own personnel opinions.

As for fighting for rights to vote, hey at least you have a choice. I get fined if I DON'T vote

[edit on 5-11-2008 by MereMugglePop]

For those who get excited about the (effectively) unknown third-or-other party candidates, I must ask: Which one of them ever mentioned anything about simply, say, a UFO (not counting Kucinich the Democrat); much less anything about/against the REAL government (the National "Security" STATE) itself or rule by secrecy in general? Forgive me if I missed something truly impressive coming from ANY candidate for President this year.

I refuse to watch wrestling on TV. I KNOW it's rigged. I watch all those people screaming and cheering and all I can think is "why?" It's not even a real contest, they're just acting. They wrote the dialogue and moves for this episode long ago and have been practicing them. So ... how can anyone possibly think that all that jumping up and down and screaming a name will make any difference? And if they KNOW it doesn't make any difference, how can they embarrass and humiliate themselves by behaving like that?

Now take the above paragraph, replace the word "wrestling" with the word "politics" and 98% of it still stands and works almost as well.

I don't watch "Survivor," and I can only shake my head at the people who seem to think the outcome is going to change their world. Or the people who think the outcome of yesterday's election is going to change their world.

If we didn't have elections, and you really didn't like the way things were going, what would you do? Civil disobedience? Protests? Write editorials? Outright revolt? Surely more of us would do something.

But the PTB says that all of that is wrong. To effect change you VOTE. Change from within by working with the system. What they aren't telling you is that politics and voting aren't going to change a thing. But as long as they can make most of us believe that they do (or can), they can USE them as a way to keep us from doing those other things that they don't want us to do because THOSE things (protesting, revolts, etc.) might actually change things, and change is the last thing THEY want.

Uncle Sam saying "stop complaining and go vote like a good citizen." equates pretty much in my mind to the Wizard of Oz saying "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain."

Voting is the pacifier that keeps us from screaming our heads off because we're hungry. Politics is the funny play that distracts us from being concerned about people who are suffering and dying. This illusion of participation, of "our voice being heard" is what THEY are using to channel our frustration, disappointment, anger, and pain so that we won't collectively revolt and DEMAND real change.

"We live in a democracy so we have no one to blame but ourselves for the way things are." Heard that before? That's the guilt trip they're laying on us, and they play it as well as dear old Mom ever did. They aren't doing anything to us, we're doing it to ourselves. Never mind that the US isn't a democracy and never has been, and "government by the people and for the people" died before you were born.

We aren't sheep or sheeple and we don't have a shepherd. Shepherds take care of their sheep and want what's best for them (as long as they're giving wool, anyway). We are chickens, and our caretakers are foxes and bobcats who have learned to take the long view of things and are content to steal all the eggs and snag a few of us here and there instead of killing us all at once. Someday the general public will finally have to see the coop walls and the fences for what they are - our prison, not our protection - but by then it will be much too late to change our fate.

Go ahead and vote and be proud of yourself for doing your "civic duty." But don't come complaining to me when you're running around with your head cut off.

Hey Shock .. thanks for the chance to vent. I agree with you totally and I think I understand where you're coming from. Anytime you want any help arguing with those political types, give me a shout (or a u2u) and I'll be there!

That was a freakin' beautiful post Heike. You said everything I would say were I not verbally incompetent, and more. I'd star it twice if I could.

reply to post by MrPenny


So in your mind every gamble in a casino has an equal and proportionate chance at winning? Or every lotto card maybe your ticket to paradise?

The odds of getting what you think you voted for seem so far out and unpredictable that voting seems as irrational as gambling, but thus maybe the secret to life. Even your thoughts and feelings are nothing more than gambles. The German phiosopher Husserl once said that "every perception is a gamble", i would have to think that appears so.

America has gambled this election season on someone that was hardly a senator for very long and now the odds are against inexperience and the lack of a history of experiecned gambles and mistakes. If all Obama has done up to this point in his mind and his life has been to win, there maybe only one other direction to go, and he might be taking everyone else there with him.

If violence basically keps the system in power over most people's lives then voting by definition only encourages a monopoly on this kind of behavior and that would be a gamble that any civilized society should ignore. We'll see how this guy plans to gamble with people that cling to their guns and bibles, I can't think of any recent comment more insulting since the voters "Sent in the Waco Killers". Just because you gamble on a half african american man doesn't mean you can bring an end to bigotry and hatred, the odds are that it will only increase thanks to all the election focus on "the racist republicans", since the common wisdom appears that those that don't support OB clearly have issues with racism and bigotry, look at the way the south voted, as for a northeastern liberal that would be everything a person needs to know about the South, forget that others have lived there and all over the country, just imagine your own little nest represents the real America and you can dump on every other region as barbaric. I've really felt sad to see so much intolerance masked as tolerance, so much hatred towards republican ideas and areas of the country, you would think slavery existed up until yesterday.
Whatever the case maybe in some peoples' minds I doubt anything but trouble will come from such certainty, as I did during the Bush empire, here you can bet that the winner wasn't you or me or anyone but most certainly ended up being the government and the money grabbers that call themselves leaders.