Today is the midterm elections in the United States, and I am not voting.
For the vast majority of elections, voting is irrational, because the individual's vote is proportionately very small. This means it cannot have an effect on the outcome.
There are, however, conditions which can lead to voting becoming rational, and these are:
- The number of voters approaches zero.
- The ratio of votes for candidates (in a majority wins, 2 person race) approaches .5
- The difficulty of voting becomes vanishingly small.
- Incentives are created to make the costs of not voting greater than the cost of voting (for instance, not voting is illegal in Australia, and incurs a fine.)
Is the question of whether to vote really a "political issue" in the same Blues vs Greens way that, say, abortion or gun control is?
Definitely, though perhaps to a lesser extent. I think it still fulfils all the criteria that lead to mind-killingness.
ETA: Time will tell.