With election day around the corner, UNC students are struggling to balance their interests in their votes: hometown ties or the fight to turn NC blue?

College students today have a unique opportunity to strategize when they take to the voting booth- vote in Chapel Hill or in your home state? Or, don't vote at all? While UNC students expressed an overwhelming excitement for political activism, young people are projected to be least likely to vote in the upcoming election. Why?  

What does it mean to abstain from voting?
Has politics in this country outgrown the use of our voting system?
Is voting obsolete?  

Today's episode begins with a forgotten moment in NC and US history and an attack on voting rights and democratic government itself: the Wilmington Massacre of 1898. Next, we examine why UNC students do and do not vote. Finally, we examine the philosophical concerns behind our right to vote: are we supposed to act out of self-interest, or with social empathy?

We'd like to thank Jesse Ainslie for this episode's music. His work can be found here: jesseainslie.com

Pit Perspectives is a student-run podcast. We record your candid and anonymous opinions in The Pit, add commentary and supplementary materials, and create episodes on relevant social issues facing college students at UNC and across the country.

Find us on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/pitperspectivesunc/) and online (https://www.pitperspectivesunc.com/).

Sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FokdCdrJy-6GokbM8Y47imlbUxA5Nfl-Lk1imIoGuW4/edit?usp=sharing

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