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Presenting America's Political Apathy: Voter Turnout Rate < 50%
The following chart from the OECD via Goldman, speaks volumes as to just why it is that the "democratic" process is slowly but surely completely breaking down in the US. Of virtually the entire developed world, American voter turnout is the second lowest of all countries, and only modestly higher than South Korea, but well below 50% in either case. Furthermore, since the voting population is roughly equally split along the middle in its party affiliation, it is astounding that less than 25% of America's voters set the political stage every four years. One wonders just what the source of this record apathy may be: perhaps it is that as empirical data demonstrate, neither party actually represents any longer the interest of a majority of the US voters, but merely those of corporate lobby groups and, of course, Wall Street. As such, over 50% of voting age Americans don't even bother to make it to the ballots. It may thus be only a matter of time before disenfranchised if silent majority finally says enough, rereads some of this country's founding documents, and agrees that taxation is only fair with representation. Actually never mind: since about half of America pays no taxes whatsoever, the data actually makes perfect sense. And so the pillage of what's left of the American middle class will continue, with nobody batting an eyelid, until such time as the only items left in said class' possession are various weapons of assorted muzzle velocity and other sharp and/or dull but heavy objects.
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What a guy. Even a heart transplant doesn't stop him.
You still believe in Santa Claus - I mean "the two party system".
Really?
And Cheney somehow is controlling this "Independent and Good" Democrat Party of which you speak? Or at least the current occupant of the position of President of the United States?
Really?
You need some serious intervention. Perhaps a tin foil hat.
Because....they are both statist! They both want to jam their agenda down the sheeple's throat.
Possibly 20% are convicted and ineligible.
The war on drugs is taking you out one at a time.
I have always argued in favour of proportional democracy.
This is how it works:
(1) Each individual's vote is weighted to the amount of income tax paid, averaged over the previous three years. Failed to lodge your tax return? Tough luck, your vote doesn't count.
(2) If you have physically paid a significant amount in income tax, your vote is proportionally "worth" more than mine, as I have avoided and minimised my tax over the last few years.
(3) If you have not paid any income tax, sorry, your vote doesn't count, because you have failed to contribute anything to society.
Elegant simplicity.
Money already picks the winner Einstein...
the Fixx is in
saved by zero
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOiZP8FS5Ww&ob=av2e
if god wanted us to vote, he would have given us candidates.
How can people not be excited to vote when they face the key choice between the lazy black kid and the rich pe mormon. Perplexing...
Hmmm, I didn't know Jeb Bush was Mormon. Learn something new every day...
Want 100% voter registration? Want 100% voter turnout? When you vote, each voter gets one ticket in a $314 million "voter lottery".
Not that I am a proponent of Democracy, but:
The Tyranny of a prince in an oligarchy is not so dangerous to the public welfare as the apathy of a citizen in a democracy.
- Montesquieu,
Spirit of the Laws.
I'll be voting this year and I'm bringing my pen, because I'll need it to write in Ron Paul's name. As for the rest, if the candidate is an incumbent, the WON'T get my vote, period.
Same here.
I wonder if a massive number of write-ins could throw a monkey-wrench into the vote tampering/Diebold works?
If 50% aren't registered, 50% don't vote that are registered, and a sitting president only ever gets like 50% of the vote, only 12-13% are actually voting for the person actually in offiice. AND when the Obama gets on stage at the DNC and says "Voting for John McCain is voting for another 4 years of Bush" then how many people voted against McCain and not actually for Obama?
Democrats vs Republicans = the snake vs its tail.
I don't need your civil war.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1fHxPY3TJo
hmm...obama or romney?
like it fucking matters.
a "vote" now is nothing more than consent to continue to be ruled by the sociopaths.
you know, those very same psycho's who found it necessary to cough up the cash for the DHS but 450 million rounds of hollowpoint munitions.
that's right taxpayers we are picking up the tab for the DHS to purchase enough ammo to kill every man, women and child in this country, and still have enough left over for most of Canada as well.
what a sick, sad joke politics in America has become.
I realize that I might as well paint a target on my forehead...but...
I refuse to surrender to cynicism and stop voting. On local levels (certainly a group that impacts our lives) voting in the primaries and the generals is very important.
When it comes to the ass-clowns on the national level - well - I believe in voting for whomever is not the incumbent. I refuse to allow some party hacks and a bunch of senior citizens who are scared out of their minds be the only people casting a ballot. I also refuse to be influenced in my determination by the quantity of cash or bullshit advertising being done. They are (almost) all thieves and liars - the only difference is incumbency.
If that's the case, then perhaps we deserve a communist in the White House!
Don't forget the electoral college system, that doesn't help either.
First past the post is just as bad here in the uk, our third party got 19% of the public vote, which got them 8% of the elected representative's...........
I think this is the first time in my life I witness a Brit or an American mentioning the "First past the Post" electoral system as anything else than "the way it has to be". I presume you are aware of how the system influences the policies?
Painfully, after spending 8 years backstage at a local party HQ you get quite jaded at the reality of the process, secret ballots, corruption (financial and moral) cronyism etc,etc.
Example,
Party HQ sends a shortlist of 16 people selected by the party to be a candidate for MP, all 16 live over 200km away but listed at the bottom of each CV is the amount they donated last year to the party.
Nobody from the local area was even considered for the post.
When the 16 were dismissed out of hand by the local party rep (councillor) who backed a local party candidate he was deselected (kicked out of the party) and had to run as an independant next election.
Doesn't matter which party, they are all pretty much the same.
Sorry if i ranted.
at least you don't have rotten boroughs anymore...
In The Social Contract, Rousseau wrote a chapter "Of Deputies or Representatives," where he said:
"In a well-conducted city, each member flocks with joy to the assemblies; under a bad government, no one is disposed to bend his way thither, because no one is interested in proceedings where he foresees that the general will will not prevail, and in the end every man turns his attention to his own domestic affairs. Good laws lead on to better, and bad ones seldom fail to generate worse. When once you hear some one say, when speaking of the affairs of the State, "What is it to me?" you may give over the State for lost."
I think this sentiment describes many in the US, including myself. I've voted sporadically, mainly when a candidate comes along that I like. I voted for Nader in 2000, and that stolen election pissed me off enough that I haven't voted since. But this year, I'll write-in RP as another protest vote, even though I know the winner will be selected by Diebold.
Have a box on the ballot that says none of the above and if it recieves more votes than the candidates, don't fill the position. Many of us are fed up with politicians who say one thing and do another.
When half of congress seats are vacant, maybe a new stripe of pilitican, and honest one will come to the fore.
I think there is a real possibility that a black swan event unfurls from the so called " democratic" process. Consider: TPTB require the people to feel they have meaningful input and inluence via the democratic process. This only works however as long as the people continue to elect the " chosen ones " . When " democracy results in the election of a true " outsider" , all bets are off and results might include inter alia------suspension of the "democratic" system, financial chaos, wholesale debt repudiation, hyperinflation etc. examples; Sarkozy kicked out and Hollande really is radical, PIIGS elect repudiation governments, ....these two examples are not remote and unforeseeable......less predicatable? ....strategic assasinations, sudden deaths, messianic leader, popular uprisings. Central Banks have very limited control over these situations and their toolkits are relatively useless as counters.
Hi All:
False premise #1: "Half of Americans pay no taxes at all". That is an lie. A self serving lie. A self serving lie perpetuated as part of a Well Tuned Psy-Ops Campaign to make people feel POWERLESS and Irrelivent to the daily goings on of the Largest Socialized Economy in the History of the World. Who benefits from this massive redistribution of wealth? Banks; Wall Street; Corporate Officers.
Social Security; Local Property Taxes; Cigarettes; Liquor; State Sales Taxes; Municipal Fees; Subsidies; Tariffs; I could go on, but, you kids are fairly bright. You get the idea.
POWERLESSNESS is what causes voter apathy. And every excuse one gives for not working on a campaign; being a candidate; donating - never mind just voting - is an expression of said feeling. Or, just an amoral, childish selfishness.
Well put, but you forgot the biggest tax of all, the inflation tax. Every time the Fed counterfeits money to bail out their masters, it is a tax on the rest of us.
This was a really stupid article. Maybe if the ballot had a "none of the above" or an icon of a guillotine it would raise voter turnout. Iowa and Maine have already admitted that they stole the caucuse elections from Ron Paul. Your most important vote is for your county sheriff. Elect a person who says that they will arrest and imprison FDA swat teams that set foot on mom and pop farms and arrest TSA personnel that grope children.
In the end you are correct. We will end up breaking the FedGov power at the city, county and state levels.
Move your wealth out of FRNs, that is where they get their power. Starve the beast.
Just paid a few of my annual bills such as car insurance and homeowners etc. All have city and county fees attached.
I can't think of even one service that I pay for that is not taxed and fee attached for one govenment program or more. My poor man's pay as you go has a fee for providing cell phones to welfare sucks and illegal aliens. Nice.
Of course, inflation is the biggest tax of all, and there is no vote we can participate in to get rid of that tax, created by a private central bank at the orders of one unelected man, Ben Shalom Bernake.
When it comes to electing a president, the electal college was invented to avoid delays bac when there was no instant communication. states would vote and send a rep to tell what this state wanted, by stage coach or train.
Well we have instant comm. now, in fact an app could be produced in short order so that everybody can vote from their couch.
But we still have this electoral college, totally stupid and out dated.
presidents win by the college but not the popular vote.
Throw this outdated POS out the door, and let the people vote.
there would be more participation if we new some body would not say the majority of this state is X so we vote all our votes for XX.
The electoral college must be stopped now , raise a petition to stop it now before we get screwed by another chosen one.
You just don't get it do you?
The problem is that Choice A may get in power instead of Choice B?
How thick are you? You think that is the problem? Not the Constitution as a door mat, but if the Red team gets over on the Blue team or vice versa? Really?
You are are on the wrong site. Yahoo.com is thataway.
Eliminate the electoral college and create an app to register and vote
Voter participation jumps by 40%
With this app major issues, like health care could also be voted on.
Then we could cut congress's pay 90% and let them just deal with minor details 2 months a year.
WE HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY, WE CAN REBUILD IT. WE CAN MAKE IT STRONGER, FASTER, BETTER.
Direct democracy = mob rule.
How can you be on ZH, read [and hopefully comprehend] what is really going on, understand about the sheeple, and think making it easier to translate the movement of the herd into immediate law is a good idea? The voting system is corrupt as it is, heck, they require more proof to purchase glue or a beer than for voting, and you want to make it easier for fraud? Great idea.
Do you really think Congressional salaries are the problem? Not the bribes? Trust me, Mitch McConnell did not make 10s of millions of dollars since 2007 by saving his salary in a CD at the credit union.
You have outlined the plan they would love to have. In the end, it would be a final vote to keep whatever royalty was in power at the time in power forever. As a cost saving measure, no further votes needed.
Try reading and understanding history. We are a Republic. That is because Democracy always ends badly.
If there were more direction from the people voting and congress was just a parttime job the real criminals in congress would go find a different position because they would not be able to dream up a million ways to make a billion dollars at the part time congress. They would be mob bosses in Jersey, or worse bankers.
Some say the None of the Above movement can help with this problem: http://www.nota.org/
Fucking stupid; All of it----
Is this this the best ZH has? om
The MSM has people convinced there are only 2 choices, and Brand X and Brand Y are essentially identical. It is no wonder that no fucks are given.
Who is more foolish, the MSM saying there is no difference between Bush & Obama, or the fool that believes it?
Last turnout for Australia was 93%. In fact its been pretty much the same since 1925 when it miraculously jumped from 58% to above 90% in the span of one election.
The reason?? Compulsory voting.
In 1924, a private member's bill to amend the Electoral Act was introduced into parliament. It was only the third private member's bill passed into law since 1901. The impact was immediate, with turnout at the 1925 election rising to over 91%.
Some don't see any good choices in our two party system. One guy I know, working for minimum wage, would rather not register to vote and risk losing time and money when summoned for jury duty.
Re American voter turnout is the second lowest of all countries
I think we can all take solace in the fact that voter turnout will never quite go to zero - since at least the deceased appear to vote regularly (come rain, hail, or snow) and in multiple precincts -at the same time, no less - in such hallowed beacons of demobracy as Chicago, NYC, Miami, Philadelphia, Newark NJ <insert the graft-opolis of your choice here>....
Fair Tax.
Eliminates all this noise.
Too bad most of the people can't see it.
It would end the IRS, eliminate accountants, and force everyone to pay one tax rate for everything.
It is no wonder that every country on earth that has enacted a flat tax (usually quite low) is doing fine.
The problem is enacting it would take power away from these asshat politicians, and eliminate lobbyists - gee - that would be......unfair.
Obama - the crotch saluting socialist bastard, said the FairTax would be "regressive". HORSESHIT. The bastard enacted a cigarette tax right after going into office, raising taxes on the poor 161% - because the poor smoke more than the "rich". Talk about regressive!
Until this country eliminates campaign contributions 100%, and the fucking lobbyists 100%, NOTHING will change.
Some oddities in that chart:
Belgium, listed as Number 1. Do they even have a government yet?
Brazil, are they considered "developed" now? Because if they are, we are in real trouble.
If Iraq under Saddam was on the list, they would be Number 1.
Same with the Soviet Socialist Republics of the past - near 100% voting.
Switzerland and Sweden really are two different countries!
Does the Israeli voting count those who are not allowed to vote?
The top of the list seems to be dominated by socialist societies - meaning people voting for getting "stuff" from someone else by force. Of course, the more takers the more voters - seems likely.
Certain areas of the USA have much higer rates, such as Chicago, currently about 132% of the "live" population - may be explained by the city mottos:
Vote early, vote often & You are never too dead to vote Democratic.
Ban Politics from TV Advertising. It is TV propaganda that costs the money and turns off the Voters
Switzerland = champion voters... NOT?
they have plenty of voting - some 10 federal and 20 state referendums per year
just shortly they voted down an increase of mandatory vacations
How could voting possibly solve problems while the average voter has the IQ of 100??
Whoa! I must be skewing that average up, I'm sure the national average would have been lower than that! LOL!
Publically funded campaigns? Are you kidding me? You believe that's the solution to corruption? Publically funded campaigns will only cement the current corruption in place. WIth publically funded campaigns you will never again have anyone outside the two party nomenklatura run a campaign. I'm constantly amazed by people currently on either "side" of the "conservative/progressive" divide who use corruption as an argument to tweak the current system. Centralized power is always corrupted; doesn't matter how you tweak it. Doesn't matter who is tweaking.
There is only one true political argument - freedom vs slavery. And today we have two parties whose entire "campaigns" are based on "who will be the overseers of the slaves and how will the slaves output be stolen".
Want to reduce corruption? Reduce centralized power. Getting decisions as close as possible to the people being affected where their vote MATTERS. Those currently in charge of elections today define "free" as "you got one vote out of a potential 300 million towards the overseer who decides every aspect your life". No thank you - publicly funded elections just mean I'm even farther removed from any ability to affect the outcome.
Stock market bottom April 2012 - http://stockmarketbottom.com
Better get out in vote in November, may be your last chance to vote.
To say half of Americans "pay no taxes whatsoever" is disingenuous at best. They pay no income tax, yes, but they pay sales taxes, SS taxes, and the burden of hidden taxes in the form rising prices from costs born by corporations for starters.
Look at your phone bill, there are 10 different taxes, gas tax, tobacco tax alcohol tax, auto license tax. On and on...