Literally a right and not a privilege. https://t.co/T7da47HllU
— ana marie cox (@anamariecox) November 5, 2018
This NYMag article got a certain amount of twitter pushback (look below the fold, at the end of this post, for a sample) last week:
12 young adults on why they probably won't vote this November https://t.co/DJlskLHl4p
— New York Magazine (@NYMag) October 30, 2018
Roxanne Gay had a excellent rebuttal:
I wrote about voter disillusionment and the importance of voting anyway: https://t.co/EGPcSpbWSL
— roxane gay (@rgay) October 30, 2018
… We are reaping what has been sown from voter disillusionment and we will continue doing so until enough people recognize what is truly at stake when they don’t vote. A representative democracy is flawed but it is the political system we must work within, at least for the time being. We have a responsibility to participate in this democracy, even when the politicians we vote for aren’t ideal or a perfect match. Voting isn’t dating. We are not promised perfect candidates. Voting requires pragmatism and critical thinking and empathy and now, more than ever, intelligent compromise…
Every single day there is a new, terrifying, preventable tragedy fomented by a president and an administration that uses hate and entitlement as political expedience. If you remain disillusioned or apathetic in this climate, you are complicit. You think your disillusionment is more important than the very real dangers marginalized people in this country live with.
Don’t delude yourself about this. Don’t shroud your political stance in disaffected righteousness. Open your eyes and see the direct line from the people in power to their emboldened acolytes. It is cynical to believe that when we vote we are making a choice between the lesser of two evils…
.
And then there’s *this* argument:
And I told him sure, but after a few weeks in mostly low-income neighborhoods around Dallas, I’ll never complain about people not voting again. Because that assumes people don’t vote out of laziness. Or apathy.
And that could not be more innacurate.
— Scafe for Beto (@erinscafe) November 5, 2018
I talked to a guy who said “hypothetically, if a person had a warrant for running a stop sign and not paying the ticket because it was too expensive, could that person still vote.” And I said “hypothetically, they shouldn’t arrest you.” He won’t risk it; he cares for his sisters.
— Scafe for Beto (@erinscafe) November 5, 2018