Latest / The Kevin Stone Podcast / Episode #31 "Why Complain... Then Not Vote"

Transcript

Episode #31 "Why Complain... Then Not Vote" · The Kevin Stone Podcast

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  Speaker 1: The content of this podcast is for entertainment purposes only.
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  Speaker 1: Mainly the entertainment of the podcast creator. If at any
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  Speaker 1: time you find any of this to be offensive, you
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  Speaker 1: should immediately rewind the program and start it from the beginning.
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  Speaker 1: The sarcasm provided in this program is so accurate it
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  Speaker 1: is illegal in 14 states. You are listening to the
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  Speaker 1: Kevin Stone Podcast, broadcasting to you from an undisclosed location.
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  Speaker 1: Customized listening. Let's begin by cleaning those ears. Who am I?
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  Speaker 1: I'm a nobody. I just happen to have a camera
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  Speaker 1: and a microphone and an internet connection, which makes me
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  Speaker 1: a superstar. I have beef enchiladas in the oven. What? Yes.
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  Speaker 1: And you made them or are they frozen? Well, they
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  Speaker 1: won't be frozen in about 35 minutes. Hey, I made
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  Speaker 1: it at the house, so it's homemade. You know what
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  Speaker 1: aggravates me? And I mean really aggravates me? Somebody can
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  Speaker 1: spend four straight years complaining about the president, congress, the governor,
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  Speaker 1: the mayor, school boards, roads, taxes, the water bill, and
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  Speaker 1: probably the color of the courthouse carpet. And then come
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  Speaker 1: election day, they stay at home. The next morning they
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  Speaker 1: wake up, grab a cup of coffee, open Facebook, and
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  Speaker 1: get right back to complaining like they were appointed chairman
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  Speaker 1: of the national committee on everything everybody else is doing wrong. Look,
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  Speaker 1: I'm not saying the government ought to drag everybody to
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  Speaker 1: a polling place. Voting is a right. You can choose
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  Speaker 1: not to vote. But if you make that choice, I
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  Speaker 1: have a hard time listening to you complain about the
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  Speaker 1: results as though everybody else failed you. Yes, you still
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  Speaker 1: have the freedom of speech. You can complain all you want.
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  Speaker 1: But I also have the freedom not to be impressed
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  Speaker 1: when I find out you never bothered to vote. Every
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  Speaker 1: election season, we hear the same lines. Both sides are terrible.
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  Speaker 1: My vote doesn't count. They're all crooks. Nothing ever changes.
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  Speaker 1: And I understand some of that. I've criticized Republicans and
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  Speaker 1: Democrats on this show, and I fully intend to keep
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  Speaker 1: doing it. Distrust of concentrated government power is not a
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  Speaker 1: party issue. It's common sense. But there is a difference
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  Speaker 1: between healthy distrust and surrender. There is a difference between
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  Speaker 1: saying the choices are bad and refusing to make any
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  Speaker 1: choice at all. If the choices are bad, that may
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  Speaker 1: be a reason to pay closer attention in the primary,
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  Speaker 1: the local election, or the next candidate filing period. It's
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  Speaker 1: not automatically a reason to disappear. Now look, I looked
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  Speaker 1: up the numbers. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 73.6%
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  Speaker 1: of the citizen voting age population was registered in the
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  Speaker 1: 2024 presidential election, but only 65.3% reported voting. So even
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  Speaker 1: in a presidential year, when politics is on every television, phone, radio,
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  Speaker 1: yard sign, mailbox, and probably toaster, roughly one out of
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  Speaker 1: every three voting age citizens didn't vote. The Election Assistant
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  Speaker 1: Commission measured participation a little differently. Using citizen voting age
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  Speaker 1: population and administrative election data, its 2024 report reached almost
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  Speaker 1: the same conclusion. Nearly 65% participated in the general election.
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  Speaker 1: Different measurements, same general picture. Millions of people had an
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  Speaker 1: opportunity to participate and did not. And presidential elections usually
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  Speaker 1: get the most attention. When you move down to smaller
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  Speaker 1: local elections, participation can be much lower. That matters because
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  Speaker 1: Washington may dominate the news, but local government can affect
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  Speaker 1: what you notice when you walk out your front door. Streets, water,
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  Speaker 1: police policy, fire protection, zoning, schools, local taxes. The people
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  Speaker 1: making those decisions may be elected in races that barely
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  Speaker 1: get a fraction of the attention given to the White House.
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  Speaker 1: I think some people treat voting like they're being asked
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  Speaker 1: to marry the candidate. They say, I don't agree with
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  Speaker 1: everything that person believes. Well, I hope not. If you
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  Speaker 1: agree with a politician on every single issue, one of
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  Speaker 1: you may not be thinking hard enough. A vote is
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  Speaker 1: not a declaration that somebody is perfect. It is a
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  Speaker 1: decision between the options actually on the ballot. Sometimes you
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  Speaker 1: vote for the person you believe is best. Sometimes you
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  Speaker 1: vote against the direction you believe is worse. Sometimes you
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  Speaker 1: vote on an issue and leave a race blank because
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  Speaker 1: you honestly don't know enough. You don't have to pretend
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  Speaker 1: enthusiasm you don't feel. And you generally don't have to
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  Speaker 1: vote in every contest for the rest of your ballot
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  Speaker 1: to count. Now, rules and ballot designs vary, so follow
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  Speaker 1: your local election instructions. But you can show up, make
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  Speaker 1: the decisions you're prepared to make, and refuse to guess
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  Speaker 1: on the rest. That's still more responsible than staying home
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  Speaker 1: because no candidate descended from the clouds carrying your exact
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  Speaker 1: policy checklist. Now here's the argument everybody knows. My one
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  Speaker 1: vote won't decide anything. Maybe it won't. Most elections aren't
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  Speaker 1: decided by one ballot. But that's a funny standard. One
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  Speaker 1: brick doesn't build a house either, but remove enough bricks
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  Speaker 1: and eventually you're standing in a field. The power is
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  Speaker 1: not that your ballot comes with a spotlight and the
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  Speaker 1: election official announces, Ladies and gentlemen, Kevin has arrived. We
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  Speaker 1: can begin democracy now. The power is that individual choices
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  Speaker 1: become a public result when people participate together. And if
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  Speaker 1: you believe your vote is too small to matter, then
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  Speaker 1: your complaint by itself is even smaller. At least the
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  Speaker 1: ballot gets counted. The rent you deliver to your co-worker
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  Speaker 1: doesn't make it into the official results. Now, I do
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  Speaker 1: want to be fair. Not everybody who misses an election
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  Speaker 1: is lazy or indifferent. Some people are sick, caring for
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  Speaker 1: a family member, work long shifts, lack transportation. Some voters
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  Speaker 1: may face disability or accessibility problems. Some people miss a
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  Speaker 1: registration deadline, move, or discover a problem with their information
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  Speaker 1: too late. And some people are so disgusted with the
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  Speaker 1: available choices that not voting feels like the only honest response.
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  Speaker 1: Those are not all the same situation. And I'm not
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  Speaker 1: interested in beating up on somebody who genuinely tried and
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  Speaker 1: hit a barrier. In fact, barriers should be fixed where
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  Speaker 1: they can be fixed. Election information should be clear. Polling
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  Speaker 1: places should be accessible. Eligible voters should be able to
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  Speaker 1: understand the rules without needing a law degree and a
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  Speaker 1: survival guide. That means waiting until the political advertisements have
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  Speaker 1: completely destroyed your will to live may be too late.
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  Speaker 1: Check your registration before the deadline. Make sure your address
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  Speaker 1: is right. Know where to vote. Make a plan around
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  Speaker 1: your work schedule. Some people say, I refuse to vote
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  Speaker 1: because none of them earned it. I respect the honesty
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  Speaker 1: more than I respect pretending not to care. But here's
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  Speaker 1: the problem. The election results do not come with a
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  Speaker 1: category labeled, Kevin rejected all candidates on principle. They record
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  Speaker 1: votes that were cast. Your reason for staying home might
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  Speaker 1: be thoughtful, angry, principled, exhausted, or accidental. In the final count,
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  Speaker 1: silence mostly looks like silence. If you want to register disapproval,
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  Speaker 1: there are louder ways to do it. Vote in the primaries.
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  Speaker 1: Support a better candidate before election day. Attend a city
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  Speaker 1: council or school board meeting. Ask candidates specific questions. Write
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  Speaker 1: or call an office holder. Help somebody get registered. Run
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  Speaker 1: for something if you're brave enough or temporarily out of
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  Speaker 1: your mind. Now, being temporarily out of your mind is
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  Speaker 1: not part of the official candidate filing paperwork, but it
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  Speaker 1: should be right below the signature line. I understand that
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  Speaker 1: strangers on the internet will now evaluate my character based
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  Speaker 1: on a seven-second video clip. Complaining is easy because it
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  Speaker 1: doesn't cost anything. Participation, on the other hand, costs a
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  Speaker 1: little time, attention, and responsibility. You have to learn who
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  Speaker 1: is running. You have to decide which claims are true.
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  Speaker 1: You may have to admit your preferred party put forward
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  Speaker 1: a bad candidate. You may even have to vote for
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  Speaker 1: somebody without feeling spiritually fulfilled by the experience. That's the
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  Speaker 1: part I wish more people understood. Citizenship is not a
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  Speaker 1: spectator sport where we boo from the cheap seats and
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  Speaker 1: blame the players for everything. We are part of the system.
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  Speaker 1: The Constitution limits government power, but self-government also assumes that
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  Speaker 1: citizens will pay attention and participate. Vote Republican, Democrat, Independent,
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  Speaker 1: Third Party, or write in an eligible candidate where the
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  Speaker 1: rules allow. Study the ballot questions. Skip a race you
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  Speaker 1: can't judge responsibly. I'm not telling you how to vote.
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  Speaker 1: I'm telling you that if you care enough to complain
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  Speaker 1: for four years, you should care enough to prepare for
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  Speaker 1: one day. So here's my challenge. Before the next election,
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  Speaker 1: do four things. Check your registration. Look at a sample ballot.
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  Speaker 1: Research the candidates and issues beyond campaign commercials and social
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  Speaker 1: media memes. Then make an actual plan to vote. Don't
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  Speaker 1: wait until election day to discover you moved precincts three
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  Speaker 1: years ago. Don't assume the loudest person online knows what's
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  Speaker 1: on your ballot. And please don't tell me politics is
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  Speaker 1: too confusing while sharing a 47-part conspiracy theory from a
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  Speaker 1: man whose profile picture is a truck wearing sunglasses. And
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  Speaker 1: for the record, trucks cannot legally register to vote in Arkansas,
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  Speaker 1: even with sunglasses. I checked, because facts matter. I know
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  Speaker 1: voting does not solve everything. A ballot does not guarantee
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  Speaker 1: good government, honest leaders, wise policy, or the results you wanted.
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  Speaker 1: Sometimes you vote and lose. Sometimes the person you supported
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  Speaker 1: wins and disappoints you. Sometimes both parties give you reason
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  Speaker 1: to wonder whether any of them have actually met an American.
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  Speaker 1: But voting is one of the clearest, peaceful tools we
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  Speaker 1: have for giving consent, withdrawing consent, and choosing who holds
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  Speaker 1: public power. It's not the only civic responsibility, but it's
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  Speaker 1: a basic one. So no, I'm not saying you have
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  Speaker 1: to vote. That choice belongs to you. I'm saying choices
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  Speaker 1: have consequences. If you voluntarily sit it out, don't be
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  Speaker 1: surprised when the people who showed up make the decision.
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  Speaker 1: And if you spend the next four years complaining about
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  Speaker 1: their decision, somebody like me may ask the obvious question. Well,
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  Speaker 1: did you vote? Because if the answer is no, you
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  Speaker 1: still have the right to complain, but I also have
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  Speaker 1: the right to hand you a voter registration form before
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  Speaker 1: I listen to round two. This is the Kevin Stone Podcast.
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  Speaker 1: You can follow the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker, iHeartRadio,
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  Speaker 1: and Amazon Music. Until next time, pay attention, ask better questions,
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  Speaker 1: and if you want a say in what happens, show up.
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  Speaker 1: This concludes our broadcast day. Good night, and God bless America.