Before we get into why you should vote, I want to address the obvious question: why are we talking about voting in a fashion blog?
Two reasons:
- Fashion is political. See yesterday’s post.
- I care about you. When I started this blog, I made a deal with myself that my content needed to make the world a better place, and that I needed share any and every nugget of positivity and privilegeI’ve been given. Since I have a political science background and have information that I find genuinely helpful, I’m sharing it here. There you have it.
Why Care about the Midterms
It’s an opportunity to vote in your LOCAL elections.
We do a TERRIBLE job at teaching how important local elections are. I get it; they aren’t glamorous. Michelle Obama is probably not going to be there to give a motivational speech, unless your city council is off the chain.
But they are the foundation of the entire political structure of the whole damn country.
We have this notion that the structure of our government is dictated from the top down. To an extent, it is. We have the constitution and amendments and senators and lobbyists, all of which have an enormous amount of power.
HOWEVER, one of the first things I learned in political science was that the structure of the local government dictates whose interests are being pursued at the state and federal governments. The better the representation at the local level, the more accountable the higher offices are to their constituents. This is why it is so important for minorities to vote (staring at you, Georgia and Kansas) and why it is important to support minority candidates.
The idea is that the government should be a cross-section of their constituents, and this begins at the local level. It follows that the higher levels of government tend to pull from the lower levels, especially if you live in a big city. How many city governors went on to state and national positions?
Also – gerrymandering.
In a nutshell, politicians have drawn up wonky election differences to dilute the influence of opposing parties’ constituents. This is especially important in light of what some call The Great Gerrymandering of 2012. Part of the gerrymandering technique relies on low voter turnout, especially among women and minorities. Does it dilute your vote? Yes. However, in many districts gerrymandering could be less effective should there be a higher than anticipated voter turnout. So don’t let gerrymandering stop you from voting!
On Privilege and the Vote
One of the most revealing things a person can say is, “I’m not a political person.” To me, this shows a few things about their worldview.
They may come from a place of privilege and are complacent and/or willfully ignorant.
They may come from a place that has taught them that their voice, their opinion, and their presence doesn’t matter.
No, no, NO!
Everyone, or almost everyone, has some sort of privilege. It could be white privilege, male privilege, able-bodied privilege, straight, educational, economic, religious privilege, but most of us have at least one kind of privilege (Roxane Gay has a beautiful piece on this in her book Bad Feminist). So why not use it to help other people? Voting is the PERFECT way of doing this. As opposed to giving to charity (which of course is a great thing), voting has the power to create space for and validate marginalized groups a voice in our system. No charity gala our community service event could ever do this as effectively.
If the person is coming from a background that taught them that they don’t matter, be it from a toxic family situation or a difficult socio-economic background, we need to support those people. We need to encourage those folks to vote. If you want to donate, this is a good cause to donate to. Both Rockthevote.org and VoteRiders.org would be great places to lay down your cash.
All of that to say: We are in a place in our history where people’s humanity is being stripped away. People’s right to asylum, gender identity, access to affordable and quality public education, right to a police force that represents their community, health care, et cetera are all being actively reduced.
If this doesn’t scare you, I encourage you to reflect on the gifts you’ve been given. Ask yourself (and be nice to yourself, don’t be mean about it), what allows you to feel unaffected, and how can you put yourself in others’ shoes to better understand their reality? How can you use your position of safety to help others’ find theirs? You have an incredible opportunity to make a difference! Use it!
A Note on Bias
People may accuse me of being biased.
Yes.
I am biased. When it comes to allowing other human beings to be their full selves, have joy and safety, and access their potential, which helps ALL of us, then yes. Of course I’m biased.
I’ve included some SUPER interesting and informative podcasts and the Roxane Gay essay on privilege in the links below!
On Tuesday, I’ll be posting VOTING RESOURCES, where you can find more information to help you make educated decisions come November 6.
Because whether it’s politics or fashion, we all need to help each other out.
Love,
Stig.
