To Vote or Not to Vote

by Apathy is Boring — June 26, 2007

    Ever wondered why our generation is often so apathetic and doesn’t vote?  Here are a number of reasons - and the responses, put forth by a couple of guys from Vote Alberta.  Do you see yourself reflected in what they are talking about?  If not, what’s your reason?  Email us your thoughts at info@apathyisboring.com   

Reasons not to by Sheldon Smart, Vote Alberta.
Responses by Ian Rowe, Vote Alberta.

-1- We Don't Care

    We don't care which political party gets in power, or what politician is running where. But we do care (one way or the other) about making money, the environment, our educations, being able to get a good job, if we go to war, etc...

    I've heard us complaining. We've just never been told that all the things that make up our lives are decided by people WE put in power. No one has shown us how we are affected everyday.  We do care, but we've been told that we don't, and we're starting to believe it.

-2- We Are Uninformed

    Our generation is the most informed. We watch more TV and spend more time getting information from the internet than any other generation. We just have directed most of it towards Britney Spears, and our potential careers.

    Maybe, we don't know anything about politics. Maybe. How much do you need to know? If you listen to the radio or watch the news once a week you know enough. Think hard and you may realize you know more than you thought. It's easy to find out what's going on. All the same places that you find out about the O.C, the NHL playoffs, and Nickelback have most of the information you need.

-3- Politics Are for Old People (Like Our Parents)

    75% of seniors vote but ... they're dying. So we'd better start to make politics about us. Okay our parents aren't dying, and yes they are old, but here's the thing...Our parents are baby boomers. Baby boomers are the largest and most politically active generation in North American history. Politics aren't FOR them, they MADE politics. Remember the sixties? Neither do I, but it was an era where everyone under 30 on all sides of all debates, was active. These are the same people who are there now. It's our turn.

    How do we change that? We vote and we start running for politics. We join parties and influence them. We TAKE control.

-4- Politics Are Completely Boring

    Pot? Gays? Scandal? Bombs? Movies? Music? Are these things boring? Politics is presented as boring, but the reality is that it's not.

    POT = Decriminalization of Marijuana = What happens when some kids get caught after they smoke up and see a movie. Gays = Gay marriage = Is it right? Is it wrong? You have an opinion, we guarantee it. Scandal = Sponsorship Scandal, Corporate welfare = The stuff that movies are made of. Money laundering, bribes, etc. Scandal is never boring. Bombs = National Defense = Things blowing up, kids getting killed, soldiers securing a town, these are not boring things. Movies + Music = The arts, heritage and culture = Buck Sixty Five, Nelly Furtado, Making movies, having Hollywood make movies here, etc, etc, etc


-5- Politics Are Staggeringly Complex

    Business is staggeringly complex, but it is one of the most popular faculties. Same with Medicine, Bio Engineering, History, Welding, etc. Politics appears to be complex because we ignore it. Once you pay attention it is astonishingly straight forward.

-6- One Vote Makes No Difference
 
    No one person buys 1 million CDs. 1 million individuals do. Somehow the CDs get sold and music execs get rich. Every dollar counts. Every vote counts especially when it's worth $1.75.

-7- No One Has the Time

    If you have time to drive to work in rush hour you have time to vote. It takes up to 1/2 an hour including travel time, and you have 12 hours on the day of. If you have time to watch Friends you have time to vote. Besides you only have to do it every 4 or 5 years.

-8- Info Is Not Easily and Readily Available
 
    While it's true that the information is not presented with us in mind, it is not true that the info is hard to get. You can get it on every single national news cast. You can get it on a hundred different websites. You can get it on the same channel that carries the NHL playoffs.

-9- We Think It Has No Impact On Us

    We are most directly affected by Municipal politics - how much transit costs, the layout of our cities. But Federal politics is the reason we have troops in Afghanistan, which directly affects many, many young Canadians; it is the reason you have money come off of your paychecks; it is the reason we as Canadians can travel easily into the United States, and a number of other countries.

-10- We're Frustrated With How the System Works (Doesn't Work)

    Fair. But no one is going to change it for you.

-11- As Students We Always Feel We Draw the Short Straw

    Who ever doesn't vote draws the short straw. We can't afford lobby groups, but we can afford votes, they're free. If they know students vote, they will have to listen and react to the needs of students, or the students will vote them out of power and take over.

-12- We Often Feel Our Opinions Don't Really Matter

    Again we have to express our opinions clearly in the media, and also politically with our votes and by supporting those who support us. Votes are one of many ways to flex our opinionated muscles.


-13- We Don't Know the Process (Voting, getting registered and so on)

    True. Apathy is Boring, Rush the Vote and others are working to make this clear. Check out Apathyisboring.com for info on how this works.


-14- We Feel No One Represents Us

    This is sadly true. We have to get our voices heard. Voting will convince them to listen. We also have to start running for politics working parties. Taking over.

-15- We Feel Our Interests Are Not What Really Matter

    They don't. The interests of voters matter. Corporations listen to their shareholders. They don't listen to people not buying their product or investing in their company.

-16- Everything Seems to Stay the Same No Matter Who's in Power

    Doing nothing has never changed anything. The system does need to change. This will happen if we vote, exercise our power, and run for politics ourselves.

-17- None of the Parties Voted in Keep Their Promises Anyway

    We need to call them on that. A vocal group of 18-30 year olds who are voting will hold them accountable. The same group could work to change the system. What if politicians who don't fulfill a promise in the first two years had to resign?

-18- Politicians Are So Fake and Superficial (smile and kiss the babies)

    So is a lot of stuff that we buy into. It is up to us to hold people to what we want. Politicians work like kids in the school yard. They do what they think they have to so everyone will like them. Vote for the person who's not kissing the baby, call them on it. Run for government yourself.

-19- Government is Handing Over Power to Corporations Anyway

    They are handing over power to those who put them there. Let's put them there and have power handed over to us.

-20- We Think We Will Vote Someday (when we grow up)

    If we want all of these other things to change it is important that we vote now and express our views as we hold them now, not when we're forty. If we're not voting now we're unlikely to vote later. That's why fewer and fewer people vote each year.


-21- Someone Else Will Worry About That
 
    They don't. The numbers prove it. Less than 25% of the 7 million of us 18 to 30 year olds that live in Canada worried about it last election. So we had all better start worrying about it for ourselves.

-22- Elections Are Fixed Anyway (Florida last U.S. election)
 
    We don't live in the states. Besides George Bush won by only 538 votes. So there you go, every vote counts. That's less than half the people that saw Blackalicious when he performed in Edmonton.

-23- Voting is More Than a Right Here - It's Seen as a Chore and Not a Privilege

    People in South Africa line up at 5:00 am to vote even though the outcome is widely expected. They know what it means to not have this right. We should respect that people around the world try to live in places like Canada in large part because we do have that right. We should respect that people around the world continue to this day to die for this right in their own countries.


-24- There is No Immediate Feedback to an Individual's Vote

    You find out the night of your vote who gets in power and you see by how much. That's pretty immediate. Our plan is to throw big parties the night of the election, maybe that'd be a start.

-25- Most of us just don't do it...

    And doing what everyone is doing is the popular thing to do. What a shame. Except that there are a lot of people starting to do it all over the world. It is happening. The movement is growing, we'd like you to join us.

Reasons not to by Sheldon Smart, Vote Alberta.
Responses by Ian Rowe, Vote Alberta.

Big Thanks to the Guys From Vote Alberta for Their Hard Work!