Don't vote! You are just sanctioning the killing of a lot of people.
Remind HN: Vote
91–100 of 391 posts
Re: Remind HN: Vote
#92Is there anything particularly worth voting for in this election? I tend to not bother voting for issues that don't concern me. And frankly, the vast majority of issues that people get all excited about don't bother me one way or another. I'm happy to pay a little more or a little less tax on various things, see schools built in one area and prisons not built in another. Go nuts with it all, and if it really effects…
So you claim that there is nothing of interest in the topics that are voted on. How do you know that if you don't concern yourself with them?
You can either be ignorant or informed. Not both at the same time. Claiming that everything is boring by way of being ignorant of everything is dishonest.
I am not saying that current affairs are interesting, but I would prefer people to be honestly ignorant to simply being arrogant.
Re: Remind HN: Vote
#93I won't be voting. I am a libertarian so my vote doesn't matter anyway. Plus I feel that not voting sends a stronger signal about how I feel about our system of government. If more people don't vote it will be harder for them to pretend they have a mandate to raise taxes, give money to the banks, and start wars. The government is long beyond saving. If you vote you take some responsibility for the next war, the next…
> If more people don't vote it will be harder for them to pretend they have a mandate to raise taxes, give money to the banks, and start wars.
No it won't, they'll just say people who didn't vote were apathetic.
Re: Remind HN: Vote
#94Earlier quoted context omitted.
Option B would be pretty interesting, and might provide a decent incentive for people to vote. However, if people aren't likely to vote anyway, why would they care how much representation they have in Congress? We effectively do have a "none of the above" option: don't select anyone and still cast the ballot. However, it would be better if there was an explicit "No vote" option. The biggest problem with voting not be…
Why don’t you vote on Sundays like I don’t know how many other nations in the World? It doesn’t make any sense.
It's for historic reasons tied to the US being a farming society:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Election_Day_%28United_States%2...
http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/thepoliticalsystem/a/whenwevot...
I point this out to anyone who complains about how archaic some things in the UK or Europe appear to be.
Re: Remind HN: Vote
#95Re: Remind HN: Vote
#96Earlier quoted context omitted.
What's the alternative? I can't think of one that is morally acceptable.
Personally I would prefer a monarchy, or some merit based voting system - eg You get a vote if you can demonstrate you have the understanding to make informed decisions.
The latter is how democracy was supposed to work (in the ideal world).
Re: Remind HN: Vote
#97I don't know how laws and culture are in the USA, but in my country (Italy) vote is not an obligation. Vote is a right, and a hard earned one. It is also considered a civil duty. But never an obligation. The choice not to vote is also an expression of one's idea: that he does not believe in any of the politicians, or in the system as a whole. Lack of votes is also a measure on how much people believe in politicians.…
> Italy has never been so corrupted in the past (transversally, in every party) as it is now Are you sure? Did you forget the fall of all the "traditional" political parties 15 years ago or so, and the first rise of Berlusconi?
I do not forget it. There could be a political debate on how Berlusconi went into politics just to perpetuate the previous system, but this is not the right place.
Looking at the Transparency International chart you can find Italy at the 67th place, under highly corrupted african countries:
http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/...
Looking at the historical data you can see Italy going down the chart, from position 29 in 2001 to 67 today:
http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/...
Re: Remind HN: Vote
#98Earlier quoted context omitted.
I am Yank, Arab and Somali (I hold three passports) and I will soon be an Aussie, via marriage. I have spent a year in Australia. My feeling is that Aussies are not really as political as Americans. American voting is under-informed and has low turn out, but at least the few percentage of electorate that vote actually care . Aussies .. I am not sure if they don't care, or if they're just good at hiding their politica…
I think its a cultural thing. Most people in the US (In my very uninformed opinion, mostly based on television/movies), are very explicit in their political stand. In India, its assumed almost sinful to ask for political stance/ "Who are you gonna vote for" in the urban society. (It may be illegal too, not sure)
In the US, asking who someone who they're going to vote for is still taboo (at least in my opinion), they're just more likely to tell you their political stance. Plus, it's pretty easy to determine based on any number of things (do they talk about what they heard on the news last night? how do they view the current administration? government in general?).
Granted, I'm not American, but I think I've been here long enough to qualify for all intents and purposes.
Re: Remind HN: Vote
#99I won't be voting. I am a libertarian so my vote doesn't matter anyway. Plus I feel that not voting sends a stronger signal about how I feel about our system of government. If more people don't vote it will be harder for them to pretend they have a mandate to raise taxes, give money to the banks, and start wars. The government is long beyond saving. If you vote you take some responsibility for the next war, the next…
If you are a Libertarian, you should find and write-in your candidates, not stay home. If there is no known candidate, you should write in "Libertarian", if there is a space to do so. And if there is no Libertarian on the ballot, you should learn as much as you can about the candidates and vote for the ones that best match your set of values. Odds are that you lean either more towards the liberal social values side or the conservative fiscal values side, so there may be a Democrat, Independent, or Republican that leans similarly here and there that you could vote for.