I Don't Vote In Elections

Second only to the gasp I get when I tell people I don't have Facebook, is if the subject of voting comes up. I haven't voted in an election since 1992, and I will never vote again. It is a personal choice, and not something I bring up unless someone asks me about it. Because of it I also don't talk politics very often. All I can say is I believe any person that has reached a high level in the political realm has taken a lot of money from special interests, and probably isn't someone I want to cast a vote for. So in order to be true to myself, I don't vote for people.

What I do is vote with my dollars. I try to make sure I shop with companies who have business practices I believe in. There are MANY places that will never see a dime of my money, because of their horrible human rights practices, or the way they treat their employees. I don't care how much of a "bargain" a store is, if they're making their employees seek out MediCal so they don't have to pay healthcare, I'd rather buy a more expensive product.

Now, pretty much all big business has done something or other that I don't agree with. So it comes down to making allowances. Target once gave a small amount of money to a Yes on 8 organization. I spend a ton of money at Target. I talked with all of my friends in the gay community and my activist friends and we all agreed it was a negligible amount and not worth an all out boycott. But I think like this every day. If I find out a company might be doing questionable things, I research and make my decision from there.

I think we all need to be responsible consumers. Does the car company who made your car clear cut in the rainforest? Do the shoes on your feet contribute money to racist organizations? Is that shirt on your back made by a company that pays its employees minimum wage and doesn't promote women? People need to decide what's important to them, and shop accordingly.

Now, it's perfectly fine if you just want to say, "All I care about is cheap price. I couldn't give a rat's ass about how a company operates." That's an honest way to live. I couldn't live that way, but if you can, more power to you. We just probably won't be friends.

Whenever people are having a discussion about how this or that politician is ghastly, or amazing, I laugh inside. Anyone who is ignorant enough to think the president of our country can truly effect the change he promised to make, is naive at best. There are so many checks and balances, and so many full grown what I call "adult children" who hate him just because of who he is, they will fight him at every turn, even if he's trying to do things that would benefit our nation as a whole. Sadly, I think this is getting worse in our country and not better. Something drastic will have to happen for people to actually step back, not care what political party someone belongs to and say, "Hey, that's a really great idea. What ways do we need to tweak and change it to see that it benefits people as a whole?" Until that is a regular sentence coming out of the mouths of people on the hill, I will continue to have no faith in our political system.

What I do have faith in is my fellow humans. Those folks who fight every day for what's right. They fight the minute they walk out their door by being a truly pleasant human being. They fight when they choose to take a walk or ride a bike instead of drive. They fight when they choose to use reusable products instead of paper and plastic. They fight when they make decisions that are not only for the betterment of themselves, but for the betterment of those around them. Sometimes I have little faith in humanity, but sometimes I have all the faith in the world. It is the little people who can make all the differences right now. So we should start doing it.

Happy picture of the day: the door to nowhere. We walked by this house and I immediately thought, "That's the door you tell the dinner guests, is the door to the bathroom, when you don't like them."