For those of us who see the mid-term elections this year as a vote for the soul of this country, it's especially discouraging to hear people say they aren't going to vote because they don't like either party. They feel we need a new third party. Maybe they are correct, but now isn't the time to pull the covers over your head and say you're going to wait to act until there is a new party to choose from or to vote for someone from the Green Party or whatever group is trying to be a third party right now.
It's frustrating because those folks don't stand a chance of winning. A vote for one of these, or not voting at all, is a vote to keep the status quo. If you're happy with the status quo, this makes sense. If you're not, it makes no sense at all.
It's like standing in front of a buffet when you and your friends are really hungry but refusing to eat because you don't like anything you see. Because your choice affects others, not only won't you eat, but neither will your friends.
Maybe these non-voters or waste-voters don't know gays, blacks, Latinos, Asians, anyone with skin that isn't white, Jewish people, transgender people, people who have pre-existing health conditions, people who need affordable health care, women who can get pregnant, or people who will be alive thirty and forty years from now when climate change will be in full force (children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren).
These, and many more, are the people who are being affected by the policies being put into place or being erased. If you aren't one of them, good for you. If you have friends or relatives who do fit any of these categories, your decision not to vote or to cast your vote for a third party candidate that can't win, your decision not to eat from the buffet, means none of them get to eat, either.
29/365
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