"You've got to vote for someone. It's a shame, but it's got to be done." ~Whoopi Goldberg

by reenee, Santa Maria

The headline asks the question, "Why do so few people vote in the U.S.?" There are so many opinions as to why people stay away from the polls in droves. Laziness? Apathy? Ignorance? I'd say it's a combination of all three mixed with a good helping of complacency, but then I'm very judgmental and opinionated. It's that obnoxious behavior that we find in children of all ages. Everyone that has ever been a parent understands and recognizes it. You know what I mean. Children will often sit and ignore you until you holler at them or threaten them. Children that grow into adults with some or all of these features still intact are the poorer for it. In children, these tendencies can be redirected into positive behaviors by parents that put forth efforts to raise responsible, interested and interesting people. If you see a lazy, apathetic, ignorant and complacent adult, then chances are they either had a stupid parent, were kicked in the head by a horse, or they're too busy sitting at the dock waiting for their ship to come in to rescue them.

Laziness is nothing to be proud of. Why people would strive for this is beyond me. That anyone would choose to sit idly in a hovel or remain satisfied with minimal efforts on the job or incompetency in their government amazes me.

Apathy is even worse. For a person to exhibit a general lack of interest or concern, especially regarding matters of general importance that relates directly to them shows a lot of ignorance.

Obviously, ignorance is the condition of being uneducated, unaware, or uninformed. However, if someone is lazy or apathetic, they will never care about how ignorant they are. It's pretty much a vicious circle.

Then there's complacency, which is the real killer. This would be a person that has the feeling of contentment or self-satisfaction, with their lot in life, even when there might be danger, trouble, controversy or incompetency in their government.

In any event, there are many reasons that people do not vote. Quite a few people believe that their vote won't count. Another group of people feel that all politicians and crooks and liars and refuse to vote for any of them. Other people will vote for the straight Democratic or straight Republican ticket without bothering to learn about who it is that they're voting for. All of these types bear the responsibility for the outcome.

This article goes on to say that about 40 percent of U.S. citizens of voting age population cast ballots in nonpresidential year elections. In 2000, just more than half turned out. In 2004, the turnout climbed over 60 percent. This is sad to me. Voting is one of our rights that have not yet been whittled away, so we all need to get off of our butts and go vote. How will we as citizens ever have a voice in Washington when we fail to put forth the effort to vote?