I guess I'm in the mood for philosophizing these days... I wanted to share some of my thoughts on voting:
I got a friend of mine to vote for the first time this election. He said he never voted before because he felt like it didn't matter. After all, what were the odds any election would be decided by his own single vote. There's a logic to this, but it only goes so far...
In all aspects of life we have to act the way we hope others would act if there's going to be any chance for "society" to work. If you go to the beach how big a deal would it be to leave a piece of litter behind? One piece of trash on a large beach might not even be noticed. But obviously if everyone acted that way we'd have some pretty crummy beaches! Likewise with voting... You have to do your part.
I'll take it a step further... perhaps more consequential than the act of voting itself is subscribing to and spreading the idea that "voting is important" (or its opposite). After all, it's true that one vote will almost never sway an election. But the idea that "voting doesn't matter" can spread and very quickly add up and absolutely sway elections.
Today the word "meme" has come to refer to goofy pictures with captions, but originally it referred more generally to ideas that spread through society. A sort of pre-internet concept of "going viral," although it could be an implicit idea that people don't even think about consciously. The spread of attitudes about politics in general and voting specifically through communities is a crucial aspect of how politics end up affecting the real world. Communities that buy into the importance of voting for example will be better represented in election tallies, which will then of course prompt politicians to take their interests more seriously as they vie for their future votes. Communities that don't will find politicians taking their interests less seriously, thereby further reinforcing their lack of faith in the political process.
For this reason I'd argue maybe even more important than the act of voting is talking about voting (in person or online). That may involve talking directly about the importance of voting, or it may be delivering that idea implicitly as you talk about weighing your options, judging the candidates, etc. Underneath the discussion lies the assumption that "voting matters," even without saying so directly. When others also internalize this assumption they may talk about it to people they know, further spreading the idea, and so on.
Nowadays we're all quite steeped in the literal consequences of "going viral" in terms of the spread of Covid. We know that if we pass along the virus (even if we don't get sick ourselves) we endanger far more than the people we directly infect. Say I get Covid, don't even notice I have it, pass it to two friends, who also don't realize they have it, who each pass it to two more people, some of whom get sick but recover but not before they all each pass it to two more people... and so on, infecting exponentially more people. Even if only a small percentage of those people suffer greatly or die it could still add up to a significant number. And it could have all been prevented had I just stayed home and not passed it along to my friend.
Well, ideas can spread in a similar fashion. Obviously either you have Covid or you don't, while beliefs and attitudes are more complicated and nuanced. Nevertheless, I think our power lies to a greater degree in how we talk and spread ideas about voting than in the actual act of voting itself.
Which brings me to my final point, which is it's not just voting... The Georgia run-offs are coming up at the beginning of 2021, and will determine which party controls the Senate and therefore to what extent Washington will be paralyzed by gridlock. It's going to be an uphill climb for sure. The odds seem stacked against us. Then again Trump keeps saying the voting machines in the state are rigged, potentially discouraging his side from voting. A double victory there seems unlikely but is certainly not impossible. And it would make a huge, huge difference, so it's worth making every effort.
For my part I plan on writing more letters through Vote Forward encouraging people to vote. I bring this up not so you'll say "Gee, Lee sure is a good guy!" ...If you do think that then that's a bonus, but you're just as likely perhaps to think I'm tooting my own horn, which may actually make you think less of me, who knows? I'm judging it a wash on that score :).
No, the real reason I feel compelled to bring it up is that the effects of my letter writing are only marginally more consequential than my single vote. For the general election I wrote/mailed 100 letters to unreliable Democratic voters in swing states. Vote Forward did their own research (with control groups and everything) and determined that people who received one of their letters were 3.9% more likely to vote than people who didn't. That means my 100 letters (which required no small amount of effort) likely resulted in four extra votes. Four. Even four votes are unlikely to change any elections.
BUT, if other people like me get the idea writing these letters makes a difference, act on that, and further spread that notion... now we can get somewhere. So, the point is, writing my letters and being modest and not telling anyone I'm doing it is really not going to make much difference and borders on being a waste of time. They say "talk is cheap," but in this case talking about the work (or posting about it online, etc.) is at least as important as actually doing it. It's how you can encourage the idea of pitching in to help to "go viral," which is what will actually make a difference. It's how you build a movement.
That's why we probably all need to try to get more comfortable talking about this stuff on social media and IRL. Ok, some of us are very comfortable with it, perhaps to the point of being a little annoying haha, but I think the rest of us should actually try to be more like those people not less (ideally without being annoying). So far social media seems to be doing a better job of spreading bad ideas than good ones. But we all play a role in terms of how we choose to participate.
Bottom line: absolutely, VOTE! It's important. But how we participate the broader conversation with our friends/family/acquaintances probably matters more.
