(2018-11-04) Wong Vote Like The Fate Of The World Depends On It

David Wong: Vote Like The Fate Of The World Depends On It. It's Been Two Years Of Rage And Terror (At Least, That's What We Say)

So now, on the eve of a vote that can reverse the tide of history, I'm curious to see. All that talk for the last two years about how we're living under the new Hitler, do people really believe it? Or is it just, like, a thing we say?

the reason all of that happened is that there was a midterm election just like this one in 2014, in which the Republicans took over the Senate, gaining an astounding nine seats (and an automatic majority vote on any issue).

Only 36 percent of voters bothered showing up to the polls, and among people aged 18-29, only 21 percent voted

That wasn't due to suppression or gerrymandering. That was due to people like you and me not giving a shit.

it's almost like this system encourages that kind of shallow cynicism, because those in power know it poses no actual threat to the status quo whatsoever. Hey, let's go yell at a politician at a restaurant

Being a progressive is kind of like being a nerd in high school -- your identity is built around being a powerless outcast, and thus gaining power or popularity feels like a betrayal. Believing in an inherently unfair system is great if it motivates you to help make it more fair, but every so often, it just means we have a ready-made excuse for when we fail to achieve that goal.

The reason the right-wing controls every level of government is that they're willing to do the boring parts. They'll go to the city council meetings, they'll vote for the local shit, they'll actually follow through with their boycott threats.

They seize power because A) they believe they're entitled to it, and B) they translate that entitlement to action. If you want to copy something from the other side, fucking copy that.

That just goes back to that one lesson no movie will ever teach you: Accomplishing great things isn't just hard, it's boring.