Don’t Vote…

As election day approaches, countless politicians, celebrities, and PSAs will encourage you to get out and vote. But should we be spending more time explaining the issues that people will be voting on, and less time merely telling them to check a box? If voters don’t know what’s going on, do their votes still provide a national benefit? The New Yorker’s Caleb Crain sets up the issue in The Case Against Democracy: “Roughly a third of American voters … are incapable of naming even one of the three branches of the United States government. Fewer than a quarter know who their senators are, and only half are aware that their state has two of them.” The question of whether everyone should have an equal voice has been around for a long time. Even Plato wondered whether the decisions of the state should be left in the hands of the average person: “Sometimes he drinks heavily while listening to the flute.” Looking back, I wish that’s how I had spent my time during this election season.

+ The Atlantic on another election tradition that has deep roots in history: When National Turmoil Becomes Personal Anxiety.

+ Part of the anxiety many feel is due to the fact that everything you thought you knew about American politics is dead. Win or lose, Donald Trump beat the system. With what seemed like almost no effort, he made complete mockeries of pundits, prognosticators, and campaign strategists. Entire fields, obliterated. You probably know I’m not a fan, but I Gotta Give Props to Donald Trump.