r/GenZ • u/shadow_nipple 1999 • 2d ago
if you hate voter apathy.....FIX IT Discussion
the reason voter apathy exists is because ever since the 70s, people vote to put politicians in power, and then get fucked when said politicians serve the interests of corporations while doing nothing to directly and materially affect positive change in peoples everyday lives.
if you hate apathy, then give people something to vote FOR rather than against
because....and i hate to say it but I think this year will prove it......voting "against" isnt going to work anymore
4
u/My_useless_alt 2007 2d ago
If the two options are corporate interests or a fascist dictatorship, I'll take corporate interests any day. That's the choice we're being given this election. Choose wisely
-1
u/shadow_nipple 1999 2d ago
That's the choice we're being given this election.
after living through 4 years of trump i reject that premise
the issue of putting corporate interests over the voters in a 1984 fashion is VERY REAL
1
3
u/Coolpanda558 2d ago
Don’t like the candidates? Vote in the primary
3
u/FallenCrownz 2d ago
there wasn't a primary, Joe Biden was literally just given all the delegates despite being a walking corpse
3
u/arctic_penguin12 2d ago
Additionally, most democrats didn’t want him to run again. The DNC just canceled multiple primaries and attacked anyone who wanted to challenge him in the primaries so now they complain when people don’t want to vote for the guy with dementia that no one wanted and they shoved down everyone’s throat?
DNC stole the nomination from Bernie all the way back in 2016, thier incessant subterfuge is starting to finally catch up with them lmao. Vote third party or don’t vote each are valid options and not voting for Trump
1
u/Coolpanda558 2d ago
Multiple primaries were cancelled bc no one relevant was running. Also maybe you’re not voting for Trump, but you’re not voting to stop him either so don’t complain when we have a conservative SCOTUS for the rest of our lives
1
u/arctic_penguin12 2d ago
The SCOTUS is already conservative another four years of Biden isn’t going to change that? Neither is another four years going to magically put roe back. If enough people vote third party maybe they will eventually become a viable alternative to the current duopoly.
Also, this isn’t the first time the SCOTUS has leaned heavily one way or the other? People say that as if like the world will end. A shrewd president should be able to make that not matter.
Fun fact, during the New Deal FDR basically threatened the SCOTUS with expanding the court if they didn’t stop striking down his new deal era bills so they ended up letting them stand.
1
u/Coolpanda558 2d ago
Because Alito and Thomas would retire under Trump and we would have this SCOTUS for decades. If Biden is reelected we have to force those cranks to hold on for another four years (which they might not be able to)
Also no, SCOTUS denying decades of precedent is not normal
1
u/Tricky-Gemstone 1d ago
Not voting isn't valid. Stop spreading this.
1
u/arctic_penguin12 1d ago
We live in a democracy - if you choose not to vote that is completely valid and within your rights. Maybe if a party wants people to vote for them they should listen to them and run better candidates
2
u/Coolpanda558 2d ago
There literally was a primary, just no one relevant was dumb enough to challenge an incumbent president
4
u/Zandrous87 Millennial 2d ago
I mean...I have a suggestion. Run for office? That's honestly one of the big things for Millennials and Gen Z, we don't have enough political presence in so far as candidates. Sure, getting out and making sure we all vote is very much important. Especially voting down ballot as local and state elections are incredibly important. But we're still mostly just voting for Boomers and Gen X mostly. And that is a very big hurdle that we need to conquer.
3
u/nethingelse 2001 2d ago
One of the issues with getting Gen Z or Millennials to run for office is the time commitment and funding. The reason we see Boomers and Gen X continue to be THE candidates is because they're career politicians or otherwise have access to a mass of resources that Gen Z/Millennials do not.
2
u/11SomeGuy17 2d ago edited 2d ago
Do you have any idea how expensive it is to run for office? Even local office. In my county for instance, it costs $250k just as an election deposit. How many people do you think have $250k to burn and what interests do they have? Let's ignore the fact that its time consuming and your political campaign could lose you your job just for a second though that's quite important and just look at the issue of expense for now. This leaves someone without $250k 2 options.
Find a rich dude or group of and do what they want. Now you serve the interests of the richest people around instead of your constituents. They bought your office.
Crowdfund off people in the county who are already struggling to make ends meet. What % of people do you think will reasonably donate money to a campaign they support? The fact of the matter is that less than 2% of people even donate money to a candidate at all. (Source: https://www.opensecrets.org/elections-overview/donor-demographics) even then this won't be super reliable as you are very unlikely to get a contribution of even $200 (the lowest amount measured by this study) if you're advocating for policies that help poorer people because poorer people have less money to give. This means the best you're gonna get is $20 donations. That's max. In actuality you're getting a range from $1-$20 with donations getting sharply less frequent the higher it goes.
This isn't including any other expenses such as paying staff to assist, advertising yourself, etc. This is just to get your name on a local ballot. Doesn't include anything else. Now once you factor in everything else that goes into it you realize its pretty much impossible for a normal person to ever hold political office without becoming a lapdog for those already in power. Go to larger elections and the problem only worsens and comes across even more means of suppressing the common person.
1
u/Austin_Weirdo 1995 2d ago
millennials try, they don't get selected. there's many millennials who work assistant positions in local/state or national government.
it's extremely expensive and they have to faceoff billionaire wealth.
voter apathy exists because the candidates people hope for are never on the ballot. every generation feels the same.
3
u/I_hate_mortality 2d ago
Want to get rid of voter apathy? Stop trying to ban shit, regulate shit, and expand government.
Woohoo! What a radical candidate that wants to increase taxes and create a new bureau of bureaucracy or agency of nebulous goals. How fucking exciting. How radical.
2
u/Impressive_Heron_897 2d ago
Voter apathy isn't the issue; voter ignorance, as showed by this post, is.
Too lazy to even research what the different parties are doing.
-2
u/shadow_nipple 1999 2d ago
Too lazy to even research what the different parties are doing.
serving the interests of the corporations over those of the voters
nothing else matters, thats the death of democracy
-3
u/Impressive_Heron_897 2d ago
Nope. Not remotely true in either count.
-2
u/shadow_nipple 1999 2d ago
if you dont think that citizens united was the death of democracy in america, then youre a republican
4
u/Impressive_Heron_897 2d ago
Yep. Shows how important it is to keep Republicans out of power so we can take back the supreme court.
1
u/shadow_nipple 1999 2d ago
you do understand that isnt possible right?
like you have come to peace with republicans holding power again within the next 4 years right?
3
0
u/FallenCrownz 2d ago
Obama had the supreme court, the houses and the Senate in a super majority. what did he do with it? jack shit except repackaging Mitt Romney's healthcare plan which just gave medical companies hundreds of billions of dollars instead of creating a much cheaper national health care service.
Shit other than that, he just sent another 100k troops into Afghanistan to support the most corrupt government in the world. Genocide Joe, Trump, Obama, Bush, Clinton, Bush and Reagan are all the same. Republicans will make things bad in the interest of corporatations and them Democrats will come in and out some neolib as the candidate who mind you, won't reverse any Republican era policy but will just do them like 5% less and won't be so garish about it.
But you have fun voting for Jim Crow Joe, I'm sure the walking cadaver will change everything! Lol
5
u/Impressive_Heron_897 2d ago
lol jim crow joe. Hilarious.
"Dems aren't doing things as fast as I want so I'm going to vote for a fascist with evangelical christian values" doesn't do it for me. But if that's your view, I can't stop you.
If I'm hiring two people to build me a house, and one is slightly overcharging and I have some issues with their work and the other wants to murder me and bury my kids in the foundation, I don't have an issue choosing.
2
u/arctic_penguin12 2d ago
Hmm maybe if both parties ran better candidates and actually listened to their constituents there would be less concern about waning voter excitement?
Stop blaming the voters for not wanting to participate in supporting the current shit show that is the 2024 elections
1
u/saberzerqx 2d ago
Naw I'm gonna ignore all that and say all the apathetic people are like that cause they're stupid and dumb, AND THEN I'm gonna keep calling them morons. That will get everyone on my side :) /s
-1
u/Coolpanda558 2d ago
Don’t be engaged in politics, it’s your choice. Just don’t complain when we have a conservative SCOTUS for the rest of our lives because you weren’t jazzed by Biden.
1
u/saberzerqx 2d ago
What I am saying: if you want people to vote for biden, calling them stupid and ignoring their grievances is ineffective and borders on counteractive.
What I'm not saying: don't engage in politics.
1
u/Coolpanda558 2d ago
A lot of leftists blatantly fall for misinformation on TikTok though, and you have to call it out for what it is. I understand people have grievances, but they really cannot outweigh the damage Trump will do. People must be informed that this is an easy, binary choice. Vote Biden, or hand the reigns to fascism.
1
u/saberzerqx 2d ago
If propaganda wasn't successful, the government wouldn't invest trillions in it. Saying its an easy choice undermines reality. Perhaps it is an easy binary choice for you, but for others, they need convincing. They need an explanation of why they should give the guy who didnt deliver on roe, or student loans, and keeps funding the genocide, and whos old as fuck... a second term. They need to be explained why a third party vote isnt the right move. They need to be encouraged to vote down-ballot.
Calling people stupid makes them dig in their heels. Impact > intent is all I'm saying
1
u/seattleseahawks2014 2000 1d ago
Move to Idaho and other states like mine and it'll sure influence your vote.
1
1
u/Austin_Weirdo 1995 2d ago
voter apathy exists because the parties will always select candidates the rich want, instead of what the people want. every president for the past several decades has been this way.
there hasn't been a single president that has been 100% beneficial to the people, or listened to what people need.
I think Biden vs Trump's golf question proved that. Wtf are we gonna do with their hobbies. A very small % of the younger generation have the luxury to watch or know golf. ya know who knows golf...? the retired rich.
everything in politics is money driven. there isn't a single house/state rep who hasn't accepted a stance without a PAC pay or something. Even Ilhan and AOC voted against Rashida. They're all influenced by money.
1
u/Cultural-Sherbet-336 2000 1d ago
Yeah, vote for preserving democracy and a chance to overturn this batshit insane Supreme Court. We don't have time for childish idealism on the verge of a fascist takeover.
1
u/seattleseahawks2014 2000 1d ago
It's to late to fix it this time around. I know that Trump committed treason, but either side changing candidates now violates the constitution which has already been violated but still.
0
u/FallenCrownz 2d ago
lol, the Reddit libs don't want to hear that. they're so conditioned into lesser evil voting that they literally can't even imagine a candidate whose actually fighting FOR something and not just "well at least I'm not a republican!" despite doing everything a republican would do but just like, 5% less.
0
u/Coolpanda558 2d ago
A democrat would appoint christofascist Supreme Court justices. I am very smart.
•
u/AutoModerator 2d ago
Did you know we have a Discord server‽ You can join by clicking here!
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.