Lol no.
Voting is a right, not a duty.
For starters, choosing to abstain from a vote is a form of voting on its own. Vote abstention is a fairly common option in many governmental bodies at all levels. If an individual isn't compelled to choose between any of the choices presented to him/her, perfectly plausible for him/her to opt out on the basis that s/he is unsure or feels better off with others making the decision.
We live in a free society before we do a democracy.
Secondly, there is no absolute moral imperative in voting. To assert so, you must be able to prove that collective decision-making is universally moral. Which, of course, it is not. Consider that many options on ballots manifest as government predations on individual freedoms and rights. Voters, for example, have the right to vote on what to do with other individual's wealth.
This is the sort of ugliness the whole "voting is a civic duty" mantra runs right into like a fucking freight train.
@Oben, Western democratic values come foremost from the principle that man retains the right to choose for himself what he wishes to do or say, so long as he does not infringe on other's rights to do the same.
To argue anyway against that is to concede that this particular liberty is worth putting in jeopardy.
I... don't think you understood my point. I agree with everything you wrote here. If you don't want to vote, no law should force you. But you should still do it because I really think you have an obligation to society. I wouldn't call it an imperative but rather a strong suggestion. Like bathing (dumb example). You don't exactly have to, but you really should for your own and everyone else's well-being. It is important and the whole thing only works if it is legitimized by enough people - and again, I am not just talking about the government itself, it's also the opposition that needs legitimization. What is so outlandish about that thought?
Totally not condescending or arrogant at all.
Yeah I know, it was intended to be, it was 1:30 am and I was really pissed and I tried to be mean without being outright insulting, I admit that. And now that I read ryuzaki's new post, I'm pissed of again, so I won't reply to it atm and I'm not particularly sorry either. Maybe later.
Edited by Oben, 19 October 2016 - 12:45 AM.