Summary

The coming November 2018 midterms will be hugely important. Will Trump be impeached, or will he have another crack or two at nominating Supreme Court Justices? Is the country drifting further to more redistribution? Will we take secure national borders seriously? Who--if anyone--is going to successfully address the ridiculous healthcare and college costs?

Advice from others: We are urged to vote, and to encourage others to vote. ACLU Colorado writes, “Voting is one of our basic rights, but it is meaningless if we don’t take time to make our voices heard.” I agree. And it is dangerous and irresponsible if we vote but don’t work hard to understand in depth what we are voting on. As is increasingly the case, the emphasis is being placed on on the rights, in this case the right to vote, not the equal or greater responsibility attendant to each and every right.

Here’s my advice: Don’t vote. You heard right, you read it correctly; don’t vote.

Unless.

Links and References

Why We Vote

ACLU Colorado

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Transcript

The coming November 2018 midterms will be hugely important. Will Trump be impeached, or will he have another crack or two at nominating Supreme Court Justices? Is the country drifting further to more redistribution? Will we take secure national borders seriously? Who--if anyone--is going to successfully address the ridiculous healthcare and college costs?

Advice from others: We are urged to vote, and to encourage others to vote. ACLU Colorado writes, “Voting is one of our basic rights, but it is meaningless if we don’t take time to make our voices heard.” I agree. And it is dangerous and irresponsible if we vote but don’t work hard to understand in depth what we are voting on. As is increasingly the case, the emphasis is being placed on the rights, in this case the right to vote, not the equal or greater responsibility attendant to each and every right.

Here’s my advice: Don’t vote. You heard right, you read it correctly; don’t vote.

Unless.

Unless you have thoroughly scrubbed and understand the issues at hand and the people who are running. And the history behind the issues and the people. Are you listening carefully to the opinions of those with whom you disagree? How many news sources do you consult? Do you regularly read or listen to sources that you know will give you very different views and opinions? If you have an opinion about Supreme Court Justices, have you actually read the part of the Constitution that deals with the role of the courts in general and Justices in particular? And don’t forget the parts about the balance of powers.

Before you support any sort of get-out-the-vote campaign, even the part about getting out your own vote, make sure that campaign focuses on targeting qualified voters. Not just citizens who have correctly registered, but registered citizens who have fulfilled their responsibility to have performed truth-seeking research, applied unbiased logic to the facts during their research, and tested their conclusions through discussion with equally qualified voters who have come to different conclusions. That’s what it takes to be an informed voter. Voting with any less preparation is irresponsible and self-indulgent.

Any right comes with an equal or greater responsibility. Just as, for example, Second Amendment rights come with responsibilities, so does the right to vote. Anyone who possess a gun must take the responsibility to be well trained,