Hacker News Reader

Comment by TheRealDunkirk | Hacker News Reader

The number of things that I should be concerned about is exactly 100% greater than the number of things over which I have any influence, so please excuse me if I refuse to care. I have ONE ballot to cast every FOUR years, and the only constant is that the government keeps doing things I don't want them to do, regardless of who is in which office, and I'm tired of pretending any differently.

View on HN

Well according to that math you have influence over half of the things you should be concerned about, which is not bad at all! So get on changing the world! :D

You should be voting every year, not once every four. At minimum once every other year, when you account for congressional term limits being offset by two from presidential.

You should also probably be voting in local elections and for local issues, nearly every year in most municipalities.

That's not to mention the various party primaries you're missing.

So maybe stop complaining until you stop exercising only a small fraction of your voting power.

So do you, who exercise the full force of your voting power, feel like you have any influence over our country's use of surveillance powers? Any influence over the power to regulate investment banks and private equity from destroying the last vestiges of the US middle class, or the American dream? Any influence over weaponizing the world in every armed conflict around the globe? Any influence over illegal immigration, drugs, or crime? Because I don't see how either party is materially any different in any of these cases, and I absolutely see and understand how they've rigged the system to prevent anyone from disrupting their status quo. If you do, then good on you.

It's your one vote against companies' $billions of votes year round. We the people don't stand a chance.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com