The fundamental tenet of a working democracy is voting. Everyone should have a vote and everyone should exercise their right to vote. To that end we have been seeing posts attempting to shame/mock or otherwise influence people not to vote. While this is a meme community, the idea that people shouldn’t vote goes against the fundamentals of a democracy by the people and for the people. To that end, we are adding a new rule that disallows posts that discourage or shame people from voting. This doesn’t mean that you can’t address how people vote, but even those who don’t agree with you and your political views should still vote. We all should. Everyone. Part of the reason we are in the mess we are in now is because participation in democracy is abysmal. Posts discouraging people from voting are essentially propaganda and will be removed.
PoliticalMemes is a community for having fun at the expense of our political hellscape we find ourselves in. People not voting is a big part of why.
We are taking feedback on this change, please let us know if you agree or disagree in the comments and why.
voting is not the only way for a democracy to keep its legs. very very far from it, actually. voting barely works and someone organizing on an union is doing far more for democracy than a lifetime blue voter ever will.
getting your opinions challenged is very healthy for public discourse, and this rule is just gonna turn this comm into a US democrat echo chamber.
also there are valid reasons you are even allowed not to vote. theres no reason to vote if you perceive candidates to be all bad (which they usually are), or if you are uninformed/disinformed. it goes on.
just because some people here disagree, doesnt mean that everyone who says this is a paid shill or something.
Because a union - and I’m in one - helps organize … you can get there. vvvvvvoooooo… you’re almost there.
Worker unions serve the purpose of pressuring employers and/or governments directly for action on issues. Like salaries, leisure time, climate policy, etc. We do it mainly by the implied threat of a strike, mutual aid, and other ways.
Specifically as something beyond just indirectly voting for, say, a presidential candidate expecting him to do everything on our behalf.
Thats because its not meant to just leverage electoral power, but mainly the worker’s bargaining power directly: This way our often crappy elected officials on an often rigged system matter way less.