Member-only story

DEMOCRACY IN PERIL

Solutions Exist if You Don’t Give Up

Why activism is our only hope

L.A. Fosner

--

Photo of a pair of hands holding up a sign that says “Your vote matters.” The “V” in “Vote” is a check mark. The background is a blurred image of what appears to be a protest.
Editorial rights purchased from iStock. Photo by Bulat Silvia.

The Pew Research Center did an interesting study on why so many (tens of millions) registered voters did not vote in the 2016 election. As you can see from the chart below, the single biggest treason was a dislike of candidates or campaign issues.

Graphic representation showing the breakdown by percentage of reasons people gave for not voting in 2016.
The Pew Research Center

I was not excited about either candidate myself. However, it was also impossible for me to understand why anybody would find Trump appealing. So when I repeatedly heard people say, “there is no way he can win,” I was tempted to believe it.

But then I saw how so many people believed his lies and seemed to feed almost ecstatically on his fascist rhetoric, and it scared me. Because I also realized that failing to vote meant increasing the chances that someone truly dangerous might become president. And indeed, that is what happened. (I also tuned in to FOX a few times, which scared the bejesus out of me.)

My 60+ years of living have taught me many things, but the most significant is the importance of advocating for ourselves.

--

--

L.A. Fosner
L.A. Fosner

Written by L.A. Fosner

Writer/Activist/Humorist/Catalyst for Change. Dispelling the myth of white/male supremacy, and removing religion from government. ProLIFE, not ProBIRTH.

No responses yet