After knocking on thousands of doors, the most consistent responses to the question “Are you planning to vote?” were some form of:
“I don’t do politics.”
“I don’t trust politicians.”
“I stopped paying attention.”
“My vote doesn’t matter.”
“Nothing is going to change.”
“I don’t have time.”
Voter turnout is low whichever way you slice it. In the last election, a higher percentage of people didn’t vote than voted for either Clinton or Trump. Add to that, the people most marginalized by politics are the ones voting the least. I hear voters being blamed - some say that it’s a privileged position not to vote. That’s backwards. Non-voters are disproportionately less privileged. Voters are disproportionately more privileged. That’s what the quantitative & qualitative data shows. From what I’ve personally gathered, it’s more of a privileged position to have blind faith in the integrity of a system that boldly oppresses the majority of its population day in & day out.
Nearly all voters know it’s morally bankrupt that we pay more taxes than Jeff Bezos, that the majority of our taxes go towards corporate subsidies, that our largest corporations paid nothing in taxes last year, that people are dying right now unable to afford healthcare while pharma & insurance CEOs take home millions in bonuses, that we're all stressed about getting sick or hurt because we don’t know if it'll bankrupt us, that we’re paid so little we’re forced to work multiple jobs, that our insurance depends on our employer, that our schools and neighborhoods are still economically segregated, that prisons have quotas & drive profits … the list of injustices goes on & on. We may not talk about these things, but we aren’t blind to them.
The truth is, people are sick & tired. We’re sick because we’re tired. We're tired of being overworked & underpaid, overcharged & underinsured. Tired of being gaslit by the media, politicians & corporations. Tired of trusting a system that betrays us time & time again. The people know it’s a rich man’s game & we’re too tired to play it anymore.
It‘s been increasingly discouraging watching in real-time the individual reports of voter disenfranchisement throughout the primary process. I’d previously listened to claims with a suspicious ear until I experienced it firsthand. It’s furthered my understanding of why people don’t vote. Voting can be a demoralizing process. We're consistently dealing with:
*5+ hour voting lines
*Last-minute polling location closures
*Insufficient voting booths & staff
*Unreliable counting & erroneous reporting methods
*Barriers to voting that disproportionately impact marginalized communities
*Last-minute rule changes
*Insufficient student voting resources
*Convicted felons not informed they can vote
...the list goes on...
This doesn’t include even larger contexts:
*The media’s role in ignoring this lack of democracy
*The mass media’s overwhelming role in spreading false narratives - legitimizing right-wing frameworks across liberal networks, labeling basic human rights as radical
*When we’re threatened with “choosing” between the “lesser of two evils”
So I’m not surprised when people don’t vote. I GET IT! I’ve watched & listened. I see what’s happening. Political theater is an insult to our intelligence. Democracy is an unfulfilled promise. We’ve been denied.
...so what do we do with all of this?
We cultivate curiosity.
We learn how to get curious & stay curious.
We can’t be expected to solve the issues of our times all by ourselves - but together with enough curiosity, we can solve anything.
Instead of blaming voters, why not get curious about voter disenfranchisement & the absence of democracy in the democratic process? Instead of abandoning our institutions, why not hold them accountable to its people rather than profits?
Curiosity is an antidote in these times.
Less answers, more questions.
A willingness to slow down & listen.
The humility to be “wrong” ... because we’re all wrong in some way about most things, and that’s totally fine because its not possible to know everything.
Don't be afraid to question every assumption. The questions are the answer. The questions unlock bigger questions.
This is our work. The courage to do this work is our most critical task in these times. Get comfortable in the discomfort of not knowing. Don’t turn away from the darkness. Allow it to teach you. Build faith & trust in the unknown. Turn the fear into passion. Get excited by all the potential available to us there.
This compassionate curiosity is what our future depends on.
Much love fam,
✊🏼🖤🔥