voting

[Canine]

I know we can't advocate for or against any political party on this forum and I agree with that. Do you vote? If not why not? If you are a traveler, how do you vote?

Moderators note:
Rather than delete the whole thread I re-wrote the original post because it contained politics.
Bob

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

I know we can't advocate for or against any political party on this forum and I agree with that.I  was just wondering  why so many people vote for millionaires and against their own interests.Is this over the line?

Speaking only for myself, I don't know that it's as simple as not being either for or against a political party.  As a libertarian, I always end up having to bite my tongue whenever someone posts some of that "Occupy Wall Street" socialism crap here.  Political philosophy is politics, too.  And I don't see where it's got anything to do with living in a van.  Rather than get into it with them, I try to respect Bob's wishes and let it go.  But I admit it really bothers me.

FWIW, I believe there are more Democrat millionaires in Congress than Republican millionaires.  It's pretty well impossible for a working stiff to get elected to anything in this country above the local/county level.  The demands of time and resources are just too great at the state/national level. 

Regards
John

 

[LeeRevell]

While there are certainly plenty of 'political issues' directly impacting vandwellers, locally and federally, I think it basically a good thing we don't drag our politics into the forum. Man is an inherently political animal, and this can bring about heated debate (ie. arguing and badmouthing). We have members on both sides here, as well as those of us beholding to NO particular major party but still holding strong views.

 

[GotSmart]

As they say in Chicago, Vote early and vote often.

 

[vanman2300]

This is the one time I will say anything close to political and it really isn't about politics but more about being well informed. When making an effort to understand an issue please read both sides of the story and for god sake make your own mind up instead of regurgitating any of those prefabricated talking points dreamed up by some mind control guru working for whatever party. Besides it is so obvious when someone is not thinking for themselves.

 

[LeeRevell]

I find it best to track three basic online news sources (I do not watch TV news or read the newspaper), Fox news for the Right view, CNN for the Left view, and some foreign agencies for a less biased (politically, but sometimes a strong anti-American bias) for a more balanced view by outsiders. Somewhere in the midst of all that, are the kernals of truth to be dug out.
The PC has given us a boon, in being able to literally have the world at our fingertips. Research is wonderful. I'd have given a small piece of my anatomy to have had the PC, and Wiki & Google back in my high school daze. We even pre-Apple II. The Dark Ages! And if Walter Cronkite or Chet Huntley said it, it was the gospel truth!!

 

[GotSmart]

If is found on line, it must be true! :dodgy:

 

[vanman2300]

I haven't missed a vote since I was 18. That's 40 years ago. I even made it to the polls just 2weeks after fracturing my spine, ankle and wrist by hobbling in on a walker with gizmos attached so I could get around. So how do you go about voting if you are traveling all the time? I'd hate to miss a vote.......

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

I haven't missed a vote since I was 18. That's 40 years ago. I even made it to the polls just 2weeks after fracturing my spine, ankle and wrist by hobbling in on a walker with gizmos attached so I could get around. So how do you go about voting if you are traveling all the time? I'd hate to miss a vote.......

Absentee Ballot via mail.  Just like all of the deployed troops do.  Your local Election Board can give you all the necessary info.

Beyond a certain age, here in NY, you don't even have to be travelling.  My mother turns 92 this year, and the local Board of Elections has been mailing her absentee ballots every election for many years, so she doesn't have to try to get out of the house.

Regards
John

 

[mconlonx]

I vote... and have been elected to local office, the School Board. What a trip that was...

This Saturday is local elections and referendum issues, like the town and school budgets. As I have in the past, I will volunteer as an election clerk and spend a good part of Saturday doing whatever the Town Clerk assigns my way. I like being part of the process that way. And if they stick me on the absentee ballots, I get to see how family, friends, and neighbors vote. Heh... PS. the town clerk is a really great person to have as a friendly acquaintance...

Most people claim they have no say, that their vote doesn't count. And if all you do is vote every four years in a Presidential election, they may be right. But that's just bare minimum democracy. There's all kinds of ways to get involved in more meaningful ways. Attending and speaking out at public hearings. Being informed about bills going through your state legislature. Contacting your state Rep and Senator. Getting involved with a political party of your choice. But that takes time and work, and most people would rather just bitch about it all, anyway...

 

[gcal]

Ive got 3 family members that died in the 1940's and 2 that died in 1916 and 1917. No excuses. Get out and vote. If you cant vote for the best, vote against the worst.

Only 1/3 of Americans voted for 2014. Those that did got what they voted for. The 2/3's that didn't got what they deserved.

 

[compassrose]

Do you vote? If you are a traveler, how do you vote?

Yes I vote. Far too many people risked or gave their lives for me to not vote. It is a privilege and a duty. I have not started traveling again. I voted in the last election as a NM resident. When I change my residency to FL (mail forwarding company) I will register to vote again and will probably vote by absentee ballet.

I figure since I vote, I have the right to complain about who's in office. If I didn't vote, then I figure I have no right to complain.

 

[LeeRevell]

I often do feel 'my vote doesn't count', as I see the usual criminal suspects keep getting voted back in. But I do vote, in hopes one fine election day common sense will somehow win out over corruption and pure evil. Silly, I know, but I do believe in using our eroding rights, as long as we are allowed to have them. But I have given up on the two main Parties. They no longer represent honest hard working Americans.

 

[Bela's Mom]

I agree that it is very important that we vote.  I remember the people of Iraq, risking being shot going to vote, and how they proudly they showed the purple ink on their fingers after voting.  We have lost that feeling in this country.

Like LeeRevell, I use the news to find out something has happened, then research it more myself to try to find the truth.  Some of the media people these days cannot look at a video of the event and get it right.  Or they will badger whoever they are interviewing until they can get their victim to say something they can twist. Sensationalism for ratings seems to be most important these days; not the truth. 

 Don't get me wrong, we need the media to know what is happening....but we also need to look further than the talking heads on the news programs for the information we need to make our decision.

 

[Canine]

Sadly,it seems we get more opinion than news on the news programs today.Where is old Walter Chronkite when we need him?

 

[LeeRevell]

Cronkite was as biased as the rest. He just carried it off better.

 

[cherterr]

After becoming very politically involved in '08 and again in '12 I QUIT!
(I was a delegate to the state convention.) Saw/heard/experienced way more than I cared too.
DONE.. I tell ya... DONE!!!!!!!!!!

I am enjoying Donald Trump tho. It's all a great entertainment time of year. Wheeeeeeee.
Don't worry.. WHOEVER is 'Elected"" will continue to screw it all up anyway.

 

[sushidog]

Just remember if only 1/3rd the people who could vote do, your vote is worth 3 times as much - it's like getting 2 extra votes! I too am active in party politics (Libertarian) serving at the Parish level here in Louisiana. All who served their country know that freedom is not free, but is and has always been paid for in human blood. Very many died or were maimed and tortured so we could pull that lever. Don't waste such a precious gift that many oppressed people would gladly trade their life for. Carefully research the candidates and the ballot proposals and choose wisely, dare I say, prayerfully.



"When you vote you are exercising political authority - you are using force. And force my friends is violence, the supreme authority from which all other authority is derived." Robert Heinlein, Starship Troopers

Chip

 

[cherterr]

Oh.. no... no no... I'm a vet too. I'll VOTE. I'm just not gonna spread myself too thin over politics anymore, I.E. "Done"..