Quote Originally Posted by Noblejanobii View Post
@Neo Emolga Again, not like I plan on doing this for a living or anything. Nope. Not at all. I mean I am a political science major that has been drowned in election studies for over a year now, but that means nothing to you, right? I have no authority whatsoever.

I get that this is a horrible election, but just swallow your pride and deal with it. I did because I get that if I don't vote that means someone else gets to vote for me. Have you seen that Doritos commercial? Where people go to get a pack of Doritos and if they aren't registered they don't get the chips they want because by not registering and effectively not voting someone else is choosing for them. That's why you have no right to complain. You willingly let someone else choose for you and that nulls your voice because you already let someone else speak for you in the election. And you're right, people should be able to call out a flawed leader, you know how we do that? By voting. Crazy concept isn't it. But think for a second, as a political science major, I get ask Politics questions all the time. People complained about Obama to no end around me because I knew what I was talking about when it came to politics. And when I asked them, did they vote? They said no, they just didn't feel like it. Well great, then you helped get him elected. It's no more useful to us as politicians to have people complain about something if they won't vote to get it done. Yeah, you have a voice, but if you don't put that voice into a vote, it's not doing any good.
I'm not saying anything against your political science major...

Also, I don't get that Doritos analogy. Voting for a presidential candidate isn't the same as selecting a bag of chips. But to turn the tables on that analogy, let's say the only flavors available were "skunk butt" and "withering maggots." I'd prefer not having any chips at all, thank you.

In terms of it meaning someone gets to select for me, that's an unfortunate truth. I actually do wish more people would stand up, openly reject what's going on, and refuse to go along with it so much so that it forces the system to have to change based on the desires of the people and alternative candidates have to come forward. Instead, people are all too proud to just be compliant and complacent with a system and candidates that they're voting for when really in their hearts, they don't like them at all. Right now, voting simply says "oh, I'm totally okay with this system and these candidates." And "oh, it's okay if you think I really like that candidate!" Because right now, voting, even if it's for the "lesser evil," still implies this.

Here's the thing. Let's say I vote for a particular candidate that I know is bad, but I vote for them anyway. They win. And they do terrible things while in office. Trust me, there's no good feeling that comes out of that either. And guess what? I'm partially responsible for that. I used my voice to say I was satisfied enough with this candidate that I gave them my vote.

And that's the thing. Neither of these possible candidates secured enough of my personal minimum standards. As a result, neither of them are awarded with my vote. If I was hosting a cake contest with a cash reward and all entries just threw raw ingredients all over the floor and made a mess, why should I award the grand prize to any of that? Would you? Would you just say "well, guess I gotta give one of these jokers all the prize money." That would mean time after time, you'd be fine lowering your standards even though the winner didn't even come remotely close to your expectations and undermined the spirit and intention of the contest in the first place.

Well, that's how I feel right now.