voter guide

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I Don’t Want You To Vote.. In Fact I’m Begging You Not To

Maceo Paisley by Maceo Paisley, Conversation Pieces, Current Events don't vote, informed populace, voter guide, voting 0

You are probably thinking that with the word “citizens” in the title of this organization we would want you to vote. But me personally, Maceo. I don’t. I would prefer it if most of you just stayed at home and watched the results populate on the news tomorrow. I would prefer if you didn’t waste my time by you standing in front of me just so you can play fill in the blanks with a number 2 pencil.

The reason I don’t want YOU to vote is because you are uneducated. You don’t follow the news, you don’t know who the candidates are, you have no idea what any of the propositions are. So no matter who or what you are voting for it is going to be wrong.Our nation, our state, our city doesn’t need another person with a pitch fork chanting with the mob. We need critical thinkers, people who are going to sit with these complicated issues and address them from as many sides as they are capable.

I don’t want to live in a world where my voice is crowded out by someone who is just consuming rhetoric from political pundits. I don’t want your vote to cancel out mine, not because we are on opposite sides of the issues. If that were to be the case, and you have considered the options then I WANT that to happen. It means our democracy is at work.

The entire notion of voting is undermined if you don’t take hearty consideration of what you are supporting. It is the quintessential idea of an “informed populace” that can self govern. If you are more concerned with fantasy football or how many points Jeremy Lin scored last night than whether our schools are funded or who is representing our state in congress we can do without you.

Still, as much as I would prefer if you didn’t vote. It is still your right. It is your right to educate yourself and it is your right to remain ignorant. But your vote does mean something, there is an amount of influence, power, that you hold with it. Power in the hands of an ignorant man is a danger to all around him. So be fore you go vote slinging learn a little something.

Talk to your friends and co-workers about it, ask them who they are voting for an why if you are unsure. This is what citizenry is all about.

Here are some quick guides that help you if you are busy. They are California specific but Google can help you with other states as well.

http://calvoter.org/voter/elections/2014/general/index.html

Easy Voter Guide: Your Voice. Your Vote.

Don’t just vote. Decide.

GOOD Voter Guide to the May 21st Los Angeles Election

C2O Editor Citizens, Featured, Places, Social Change future, good is, lavote.net, los angeles, mayoral race, mitch o'farrell, voter guide, voting, wendy gruel, young angelenos 0

We are at it again folks! It is time to hit the polls and get into action for the change you want to see in your city. The local election is by far the one that most greatly impacts our lives. Yet these local elections have the lowest turn outs. That means your are letting other people turn the wheel, and the direction they want might not be where you want to go.

To help you navigate the Young Angelenos have partnered with GOOD to create this updated voter guide. Its been revamped and made a bit more reader friendly.

Browse through it or read the whole thing but get informed for the May 21st election.

One hot button election is the Mayoral Run-Off. Its like the ultimate tie breaker for who will be in charge of the city!

Click the image to download the PDF

Happy voting.

Here is a link to where you can find your poling place.

Just trying to be helpful!!

http://lavote.net

GOOD Voter Guide to Los Angeles Elections

C2O Editor Conversation Pieces downtown, eric garcetti, good is, local election, mayoral candidate, voter guide, wendy gruel 0

This Tuesday, March 5th is the day to make an impact on your city. The city council, and mayor are up for election. As exciting as the presidential race is, the local government probably has more influence over they way your life looks than the president himself.

The sad part is that no one is really voting locally. City politics is not sexy and is not in your face but that doesn’t mean it is not relevant . Everything we complain about has a solution. ” The streets suck”, “the city is soo spread out”, you gotta have a car in L.A.” I hear it all the time that we want change, but what are we doing about it?

All those pot wholes in the street can be fixed, where the buses travel and how space is allocated to schools and business are controlled by the local government. In order to change your community you have to change the city and the people that run it.

The opportunity to make some semblance of influence over your immediate surroundings is here. It’s not something that should be thought of as a duty, but more of an opportunity to participate in choosing the decision makers of your town.

If you don’t someone else will speak for you, and who knows what they will say.

For those of us that are not so informed about what is going on in the local government. GOOD.is has put together a voter guide to avail some basic information about the offices and candidates that are running this time around.

If you are wondering what GOOD is, here is your answer: (via their website)

“GOOD is a global community of, by, and for pragmatic idealists working towards individual and collective progress.”

CLICK to download the guide.

GOOD