It’s convenient in this era of digitization to see a lot on voting. Think about it. Your vote was once a private matter. You seldom spoke about it. You didn’t discuss it with others. Now, it’s become an in your face, round the clock contest. Complete 180.
Here’s the further interesting thing about a vote. Votes have largely been taught as a selfish act. You were to vote for a local representative who would fight for your interests. Local police chief that would keep you safest. Local judges that would rule for laws you favored. You would vote for a senator or president who would fight for what you needed.
Today, there are many voters who cast votes as a charitable donation for a party or representative that will fight for causes you are passionate about.
The causes don’t help you. This is key. They help people you care about.
That’s noble, but is it necessary? Is that really what you want your one vote to represent? What do you gain from that? You did a selfless deed by voting for someone to do things for other people, and you won’t directly benefit from it. You definitely win the moral contest with this choice. Maybe, your life is so good that you don’t need the help, but again what’s the point of voting if you aren’t voting for something that you personally benefit from!
This is best shown by how someone interprets government. The divide in our country is easy to explain. One side believes in government helping others, and the other believes in government staying out of their life. One side focuses on humanitarian and social causes, and the other focuses on economic and monetary issues. One side is dependent on government, and the other is independent from government. This is how one side votes to help others, and potentially themselves in the process, where the other side has a selfish view with their one vote.
You may use your one vote to advance a cause. Can’t you use other methods that could have more of an impact to advance the passion of yours? Wouldn’t volunteerism, or outreach help more? Again, it goes to a viewpoint of government. One side has more faith in government having success in particular areas, while the other side believes government has a poor track record in these spots. One side believes government is best at distributing assets to help those in need, while the other side believes government should collect a minimal amount of tax and move on. Isn’t the government you choose supposed to serve you and your needs?
You vote on how you view government. It’s the quiet undertone that moves where you take your vote. Where did the divide on government view begin? There is a huge gap in voting patterns based on education level achieved. Individuals educated with a college degree and above are constantly voting for one party over another in the widest margins. It is tough to find a greater divide. A view someone has on government is something that would have been taught to them in school. The educators have swayed opinion on government once someone is in college and above. This has changed how someone uses their one vote.
Education developed one’s view on government, and how someone views government is how they use their one vote. Individualism, or selfishness about voting, and self-reliance or independence from government are themes not being taught to most people in higher education. This is the problem. This is the divide. Half the country fundamentally sees our government as something completely opposite as the other half sees it. Tough to bridge that gap.
Phil Your Day 