The problem is that essentially nobody thinks similar to you. In particular, there are only a few hundred LWers, who are geographically scattered, not politically unified, and who don’t all even think similarly enough to agree that one should vote for the reasons you’ve given.
I agree that that is a downside of compulsory voting, but at the moment my strong suspicion is that it’s offset by the dilution of the crazies—see my reply to Drethelin above re: the Tea Party.
Note also that LWers are not necessarily the demographic that I associate most strongly with, and in fact that I don’t associate with any rigidly defined demographic at all. There are definitely people out there who think like me, though, and if we vote as a bloc then we have more power than just me alone. This is why people underestimate their own voting power, and this is why people who care at all about not being lead by lunatics should vote.
The problem is that essentially nobody thinks similar to you. In particular, there are only a few hundred LWers, who are geographically scattered, not politically unified, and who don’t all even think similarly enough to agree that one should vote for the reasons you’ve given.
Compulsory voting has a downside, insofar as it requires poorly motivated voters, who will also know less, to vote.
I agree that that is a downside of compulsory voting, but at the moment my strong suspicion is that it’s offset by the dilution of the crazies—see my reply to Drethelin above re: the Tea Party.
Note also that LWers are not necessarily the demographic that I associate most strongly with, and in fact that I don’t associate with any rigidly defined demographic at all. There are definitely people out there who think like me, though, and if we vote as a bloc then we have more power than just me alone. This is why people underestimate their own voting power, and this is why people who care at all about not being lead by lunatics should vote.