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This has always been difficult for me to wrap my head around too. I've been cynical about American elections so long that I almost forget why and when someone intelligent that I respect says to me that voting is actually important I will stop and listen. But I have yet to be convinced that my participation has any impact on anything. It seems irrational to view my vote as meaningful, hence I always throw it away. I only vote for outsiders and always as a protest--but I do vote. Why? Habit I suppose, certainly not because I can justify it.
I suppose the problem is that I wouldn't recognize when my vote might matter. I kind of look at it all like a sweepstakes where I like 1:1000 odds but don't bother with 1:3,000,000 odds. So, I focus on school board races, state representatives, city council and the like. Presidential elections stir no feelings or emotions in me because they only exist as mid-wit theater.
Maybe im just so math-brained that i've sufferered some sort of intiger overflow condition but im genuinely coming in from the opposite direction.
I find the typical "Grey Tribe" attitude that unless your specific vote gets to be the deciding vote/change the course of the election it was a waste of time quite dumb. Granted, in any election involving millions of people the likelyhood of the result coming down to a single vote and that specific vote being yours is functionally infitesimal but to take that as an argument against elections and voting in general strikes me as a sign of extreme narcissism and innumeracy.
I don’t think it’s innumeracy…I get how numbers work. If I suffer from narcissism, it’s the narcissism of a cockroach.
My antipathy toward voting has more to do with my historical perspective: No vote will stop America’s terminal decline and ultimate turn toward authoritarianism. In fact every vote accelerates this eventuality. Authoritarianism is unavoidable and the only possible choice is left-wing 1984 surveillance state or some kind of strongman tyranny. The tyranny seems so implausible in the current context of 5th gen warfare, I marginally prefer it because i think it’s less capable of harm.
My disinterest in voting has little to do with whether or not my vote counts, but what precisely it’s counting towards. What is the point of voting when there are no choices? You get death by poison, death by venom or death by yeeting yourself off a cliff in protest.
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Right, it would make more sense for rationalists to offer advice on how to pick a good school board candidate or a good city councilman or a good dog-catcher, for races where the reader has a tangible impact on the outcome.
Literally, offering any endorsement at all on a presidential race seems reads like you believe you're influential enough to make a difference, which could be just a tad... delusional? Narcissistic? I get why Newspaper editorial boards would do it, but not every single personality need voice their opinion on this.
Will you have more impact on the vote than Taylor Swift? If not, then why exactly are you spending this effort?
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