It's apparently that time again. Vote! Vote! Vote! I don't follow the political charades anymore, but I can't ignore the incessant "Vote or die!" mantras taking up most of my FB feed, from both sides.
It's your duty to vote!
Get out and vote!
If you don't vote you can't complain! and so on.
So I posed a question to a 20 year old female co-worker of mine who leans left and hates Trump. I first asked her if she was one of these people who thinks people should go out and vote? She replied yes. I then asked her this question, which if you agree with her on the premise that people should go vote, then I would appreciate your honest answer as well in the comments section. The question is this...
If you are a liberal, democrat, anyone who leans left on the political spectrum, and you have the floor in an auditorium full of 1000 people, you say to them loud and clear, go vote!!! And after saying this, all 1000 people stand up and state loud and clearly that they will go vote, and that they are all voting republican. Knowing this, do you still want them to vote?
If you are a conservative, republican, anyone who leans right on the political spectrum, and you have the floor in an auditorium full of 1000 people, you say to them loud and clear, go vote!!! And after saying this, all 1000 people stand up and state loud and clearly that they will go vote, and they are all voting democrat. Knowing this, do you still want them to vote?
I wasn't surprised by my co-workers answer, in fact I knew that she would not want the 1000 conservatives to vote, as that would go against her beliefs and preferences.
It makes the voting chattel look and feel good about spreading their supposed belief in civic duties, but in all reality, they don't want everyone to vote. Just the ones who will vote in favor of their candidate.
If you're one of these people screaming go vote!, at least be honest about your intentions. Knowing now that you want some people not to vote.
Instead of saying go vote!, you really should be saying "Vote for X candidate because they align most with my ideas and preferences that I think should be forced on you at gunpoint and if you don't agree that my candidate is the best then you shouldn't vote".
But that doesn't have quite the same nice ring to it that 'go vote!' has, so I doubt it will catch on.
Thanks for reading and if you have the guts to be honest about your stance, please feel free to write your mind in the comments. Peace and love.