By: Emily

In reply to Jessica.

I really do appreciate you taking the time to engage and offer your point of view to the conversation – seriously not trying to sound condescending here, I mean it.

For me it just comes down to the first part – there are major problems with the system but that’s how it is. Of all the people I know who are really working to change the system, I don’t know a single person who would say that voting isn’t important. On the contrary, those are the people who have been the loudest in encouraging others to vote (I’m not saying that there aren’t social activists who don’t support voting, but my experience is that the vast majority of them do).

It is a flawed system. Fundamentally? I might disagree with you there. But I don’t think that disengaging from the system is the right response to a history of discriminatory practices – because the unfortunate truth is, almost every aspect of present-day culture has a discriminatory past. It’s important to be aware of that, but it’s also important to continue working forward. Like it or not, no one listens to marginalized groups until they demand to be listened to, and in our electoral system that means voting power. Why are young people’s issues being debated more now then ever before? Because we turned out in record numbers in 2008.

(At the end of the day, I think it’s also important to realize that most people who don’t vote, don’t do it because they are doing other social change work that will make a more profound difference. They do it because they’re lazy, apathetic, or disillusioned.)