What's this National Service talk?

[d]

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Originally Posted by brewer12345 Perhaps this thread would be best ported to the crapbox Soapbox?

don't denigrate the crapbox soapbox ... it has a very nice feature ... you can switch turn it off! (which is quite satisfying.)

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Originally Posted by bbbamI She would probably feel differently if the right to vote was taken away from her.

if it were to happen, she might never realize it.

[ERD50]

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Originally Posted by bigwonderfulwyoming I met a woman ( I'd guess her at 42-44 years old) at a neighborhood meeting the other day who readily admitted that she had never voted. I asked her why, her answer was that she just didn't want to. I asked her "what about the issues that matter to you?" She just shrugged her shoulders and said "Things are fine the way they are. I'm doing OK" No political commentary, just an observation dovetailing with Ron's experience at the vet's office. Wonder how many others there are like her out there?

I didn't vote in many, many elections. It wasn't a matter of not caring, definitely not thinking things are 'fine', just that I felt the reality was that there was no way my vote was going to count towards anything. Sometimes, I feel like 'I voted' is a bit like wearing that flag pin. A bit too symbolic for my tastes.

I pretty much still feel that way today, however there are local issues and referendums to vote on, so I do it. But if someone tried to take away my right to vote (or not vote), yeah, I'd be up in arms about it, guaranteed.

As far as the quote up there on 'service' and the vote... well, of course I feel a debt of gratitude to those in military service. As I do those in the police force, the fire fighters, the guy who gets the electricity back up after a storm, the plumber who clears my backed up sewer line, the crossing guard at school, the checkout lady at the grocery store, the techno-geeks that make it possible to post on the internet.... there are many ways to serve. That comment seems a bit 'self-serving' coming from a military man.

-ERD50

[Nords]

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Originally Posted by rs0460a Anyway, since I became eligibe at age 21, I've never missed a vote, local or national, primary or general. My "canidate" may not win, but at least I've "spoken my mind" were it counts.

I've voted in every election since I was old enough, too, and in nearly 30 years I've never had to go to the polls. Never. Absentee ballots make the process much easier and much more likely to attract more participants. It's also a great way to spend an hour or two discussing politics with your kids while you sit around filling out the ballot.

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Originally Posted by harley A great book for young minds, made into one of the worst movies ever! Or maybe 3 of the worst movies ever.

Hey, Neil Patrick Harris & Denise Richards did the best they could... (wait for it, REW & CFB) with what they had...

[ladelfina]

just looked here (voter turnout since 1945) and Italy is #1.
International IDEA | Turnout in the world - country by country performance
They take it very seriously, but a big thing that helps is that voting takes place over at least 2 days, Sat. and Sun., so it's easier for people who work.

They only got rid of their 1.5-2-year military/community service requirement a few years ago. I have mixed feelings about it. It definitely creates a feeling of solidarity when everyone (in this case it was just males) has gone through the same experience, and I do worry that in the US the burden of service now tends to fall upon the poorest and least-educated.

Ron, having to fight and not being able to vote.. so unfair, grrrr. No wonder you treasure the right.. I wish everyone did.

[W2R]

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Originally Posted by Nords I've voted in every election since I was old enough, too, and in nearly 30 years I've never had to go to the polls. Never. Absentee ballots make the process much easier and much more likely to attract more participants. It's also a great way to spend an hour or two discussing politics with your kids while you sit around filling out the ballot.

Yes, but there is an almost communal feeling of activism as you stand in line at the polls with your neighbors; a feeling that together, we are actively participating in the process and doing something to better the country, on the same day as the rest of America is doing the same thing. It is hard to describe but personally I like going down there to vote. Besides, I get to know and/or greet some of my neighbors that way.

I suppose it would be easier to submit an absentee ballot; after all, I take a "cheat sheet" of my choices with me to the polls, so that I won't make a mistake, so I could just as easily submit it from home. But I just like going to the polls.

We have the electronic voting machines now, and when you push that final button to submit your vote, it sounds almost like the jingle when you win at a slot machine. Very Pavlovian.