Boogie Man Journal: In 44 days America will have the opportunity to pay Congress back for all of it's hard work, we owe it to our Representatives to vote this November

by OneYearSteakGuy

Every two years we get the chance to fire every single member of the House of Representatives, and on November 4th our two year wait is up! If you don't step up and act you'll miss your chance to go to the polls and make your voice heard. We owe it to Congress to show them just how much we appreciate all their hard work and tireless dedication to our country.

Every single one of the 435 members of the House of Representatives is eligible to be replaced.

33 out of 100 Senators is eligible to be replaced.

36 states will have the opportunity to elect a new Governor.

Congress worked just 126 days in 2013, that averages out to around 2.5 days per week.

Wouldn't it be great if the American working class could have a four day weekend, every week for the entire year? Or maybe just one massive 34 week paid vacation.

Here are some questions to ask yourself between now and November:

Do you trust the current House of Representatives to make wise decisions when it comes to Net Neutrality? Or do you agree with Republican Representative Fred Upton and Republican Representative Greg Walden that Net Neutrality is a "solution in search of a problem?"
Do you trust the current House of Representatives to make wise investments in science and technology? Or do you agree with Republican Representative and member of the House Science Committee Paul Broun that science such as evolution, embryology, and the big bang theory are "lies straight from the pit of hell?"
Do you trust the current House of Representatives to support equal rights for homosexuals, or do you agree with Representative Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn. that "The court-ordered redefinition of marriage in several states … is an assault on the foundations of our society, challenging the institution which, for thousands of years in virtually every civilization, has been entrusted with the rearing of children and the transmission of cultural values?"
Do you trust the current House of Representatives to enact new regulations that will help slow or halt the advance of climate change, or do you believe that it's a hoax because “If you believe in the Bible, one would have to say the Great Flood is an example of climate change. That certainly wasn’t because man had overdeveloped hydrocarbon energy.” as Representative Joe Barton, R-Texas does?
Do you trust the current House of Representatives to help the poorest amongst us and raise Americans out of poverty, or do you think something like raising the minimum wage "would do more harm to our economy than anything. You work at Arby’s, the cost of products, the cost of services are going to go up. [...] If we are going to make it a living wage, who’s going to pay for it? Who’s going to pay for it?" as was suggested by Representative Dennis Ross, R-Florida.
Do you trust the current House of Representatives, or are you going to vote them out?

I'd also like to address some of the common concerns when I try to encourage people to vote:

"They're all the same anyway."
- This is demonstrably not true. Currently our political parties are more polarized than they have been in more than a century. If we look at party-line votes in the Senate and the House of Representativesthe distance between the parties are obvious. For the average Redditor the differences between the haven't been as stark in our lifetimes. (These visulizations may be easier to read: Senate Polarization| House Polarization)
"Not voting is the same as a vote of no confidence."
- We have tried not voting before. In fact we have tried not voting sixteen times in the last seventy years. Less than half of eligible voters turned out for midterm elections in 1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, and 2010 which means that in 100% of midterm elections since 1950 a minority of Americans were allowed to pick a new House of Representatives.
- Not voting is tantamount to saying "Things are good enough in my life that I'm going to let you keep your job" because why would an elected official change anything if they're reelected? They don't care if they win with 100% turnout or if they win with 10% turnout just as long as they win.
- Not voting just gives more power to the people who do show up.
"Voting doesn't change anything anyway."
- Nothing changes all at once but our history is riddled with slow but steady progress. We have seen since 2010 the damage that can be caused by a single election, how one bad election can slow progress to a crawl and even drag us backwards. Voting can and does make a difference, but first you need to vote.
"My vote doesn't count."
- No, your vote alone won't win the election. Vote anyway. You; by yourself, won't win a tug-of-war, that's why we all work together and we need you to pull your weight, especially now.
"My district is gerrymandered too much for the opposition to stand a chance."
- Gerrymandering has no effect on state-wide elections, so if you don't vote because of gerrymandering you're missing out on the opportunity to vote for Governor, Senator and any of a number of ballot initiatives.
"There's no one on the ballot that represents me, or represents my views."
- Then you need to represent your views for yourself. Go to the polling place and write in "NO CONFIDENCE" for any; or all, of the eligible seats. Not voting says nothing but "Everything is fine, my life is good, I don't want anything to change" so go and vote "NO CONFIDENCE" and make your voice heard.
"If voting changed anything it would be illegal."
- For the vast majority of human history voting was functionally illegal, as leaders were picked through birth or war or appointment or God. The very thought of letting the people vote was considered dangerous and absurd.
- When our country was founded it was illegal for anyone except white, land owning males to vote.
- It was illegal for African Americans to vote until 1870.
- It was practically illegal for African Americans to vote until 1965.
- It was illegal for women to vote until 1920.
- It was illegal for 18 year-olds to vote until 1971.
"Why should I have to choose between a Douche Turd and a Giant Sandwich?"
- I guess you should have voted in the primaries so that D. Turd and G. Sandwich would never have gotten to the general election...
- Also: No human is so black or white, no policy is so clearly right or wrong, no political party is so good or evil. The Sandwich analogy is a painful oversimplification of both voting and of political candidates.

There are those who will try to tell you that they're too weak, that they're actions and votes are worthless, that it is better to sit in silence than to stand up and be counted; these people have become so convinced of their powerless impotence that they will try to convince others of the same thing. Just like an alcoholic will try to force you to drink, the timid will try to force you to stay silent. Smile and nod and vote anyway, because you are not weak, you are not powerless, you are not impotent unless you let yourself be.

Think of them like the fat friend that's always trying to convince you to eat cake.

The biggest point I would like to make here is that yes, your vote does count. The person who convinces you not to vote, votes twice.

Now watch this video and go kick some ass!

The following states allow paperless, online voter registration. You can register in minutes, and no further action is necessary aside from showing up and in some cases having a photo ID.