Re: "Our lack of participation in elections is pathetic."
Somebody commented that on some YouTube Video, under a comment I had made.
And. Yeah I'd like more people to turn up to vote.
But there's so many other things to look at for participation in society:
- serving food at a restaurant
- volunteering at the homeless shelter or local pride organization
- caring for your grandma
- fostering pets
- adopting kids
- donating money to LOCAL charity
- punching a greedy CEO (because they attacked you in a bar and you're rightfully and legally defending yourself)
So like, yeah maybe more people should vote. But also maybe we should give people credit for the other things they do, and get off our high horses, and give grace.
And if you only have a little bit of bandwidth for societal participation, helping a neighbor kid with their homework is probably more important than staying up-to-date on the news and making an informed vote.
Note: I do not always give people grace. I also harbor the frustration that commenter expressed. I don't want to judge them for their comment. But I want to present another way of thinking, both for anyone reading this, and for myself. It is this kind of reflection that helps me act better & more inline with my values. The grace I'm requesting for the non-voter should also be extended to the commenter. And I then should extend that same grace to myself.