Non-Voter Headspace

Remember this:  Wait for the backfire.

Watching the Collegiate Electoral Voting map appeared to be a river of blood right through the middle of America-it’s spread was everywhere. I fondly called it, The Masque of the Red Death. 

I wondered who could vote in such a way, and why?

The only thing I could think of was a great mental plague in the form of resentment, and the ability to organize an outcome, not necessarily in favor of benefiting the country, but one as children playing in a school yard with a bully shaking down kids for their lunch money.

Wait till someone realizes that a campaign was based around knowing how to work people through their true intentions to get into a position for self-benefiting shenanigans. 

If the undercurrent was to strike back against minorities, immigrants, etc. and take their country back (who exactly are these people?), then that would mean there is X amount of people that see the rest of us as non-patriotic and undeserving to live here.

Is that what it is like to be a winner? Complete separation from the rest of the country based on an ugly truth we now know is that big red blot across America on the Collegiate Electoral Voting map.

Take back your country? Who are we supposed to be taking back our country from? Oh wait, we weren’t included in that ‘take back America and make it great again’ scheme. Wait until "We, the People" have to take back our country from a Fascist Republican rule. A lot of these people are going to be using the guise of God to dictate their rules. Trust me, God isn't going to be speaking directly to them either. Buckle up kiddos. Four years is a long time when under the thumb of a small group of people that could make your life a living Hell.

Have fun champs! Let us see, if Trump makes it, what he will do over the next four years and if it ends in disgust, betrayal, and a mess to which the likes have never seen.

I wonder what the body count is going to be. If you worried about what you thought Hillary did that never went to trial, what exactly do you think will be Trump’s outcome especially when he has said some disrespectful things of Veterans? Those comments were right there coming out of his own mouth and not diatribe fake news reporting on Facebook and social media outlets.

Someone told me Trump might shock us. I laughed and said, “You bet. He’s gonna shock America for sure.”

Didn’t that already happen?

I figured this was going to happen because it is not too hard to figure out some of the American public. We already know we have racism running rampant, misogyny, and other things that play their incredible way out in political forums as we watch and go WTF over and over again.

Yet no one can stop those outcomes. We lie down as constituents, grumble, take it, move on, and mark it down as taking it for a loss.

I no longer worried over Trump’s election to office. That point was mute. I was convinced that the problem appeared to be people with voting apathy. Those people, who live in America, are subjected to its laws, but do nothing to take part in the process other than complain when policies menace their lives.

I woke up. Trump was President. I went to work. I began asking the same and only question: Did you vote? I didn’t need to know who they voted for-just if the person voted. Ten people I asked. Ten answers I got.

“Did you vote?”

Person #1     African-American Male Over 20:    No

Person #2     African-American Male Over 20:    No

Person #3     African-American Male Over 20:    No

Person #4     African-American Male Under 20:   No

Person #5     African-American Male Under 20:   No

Person #6     African American Male Under 20:   No

Person #7     Caucasian Female over 60:         No

Person #8     Caucasian male over 20, military: No

Person #9     African-American Female Over 20: Yes

Person #10   Caucasian Male over 30:           Yes

Person #11   African-American Male over 20:    Yes

Person #12   African-American Male over 30:    Yes

Of the twelve people, four voted. Of the eight people, voting apathy was evident. Digging in a little deeper, I asked: Why did you not vote?

The sixty-year-old Caucasian female’s reply was her vote didn’t matter. It would cancel out another’s vote and make it null. Two people’s vote would not matter.

The Caucasian male over 20, military replied the two lead options were not options. Trump was not a quality choice given his public antics, and Hillary had Benghazi looming over the voter’s heads. Who do you vote for the fascist, misogynist megalomaniac, or the military murderess?

Some unnamed person trolled me on Twitter, making sure I understood they weren’t attacking me, but telling me they were neutral and didn’t trust Hillary because of Benghazi. Now, I am not sure if that story is even true. No charges against her were ever filed. Why the hell not if it was that bad? I just blocked that person and moved on. Not sure why they even bothered with me.

Onward.

The six African-American males replied their vote didn’t matter. They argued by the time it got to the Electoral College-the Electoral College could vote the way the Electoral College wanted to. This vote would most likely align with the majority vote in the special interest section; not what is in the best interest of the States diverse people, or government.

The other four proclaimed they did their part and voted; nothing more to see there.

Here you have 8 people alone for their reasons that did not vote.  I wondered how many people didn’t vote just in my state. If the number is large how many of those people did not vote for the same reasons.

Another 19 year-old African-American male not included in this group told me that he didn’t vote because he was too lazy to change his voter registration from another district.  I mentioned absentee ballot and he didn’t want to do that either.

How do you live in America, in a state, with the things we are facing and not vote-then just live with the outcome. How do you live in America, as a young African-American male with the Black Lives Matter movement-yet you don’t care if you vote?

Great! The Curse of Manifest Destiny was upon us in the form of apathetic non-voters, who were becoming victims of their own undoing in the form of giving over their existence to something they felt was inevitable-no matter their actions, or the outcome.

Otherwise, I am a donkey sitting on my ass unwilling to move to go vote.

The moral of the story here is: Non-actions, no matter how you argue it is not the best self-governing policy when making huge decisions in the face of a long term consequence that can affect the world you know-it-at-large.

How do you change constituent’s minds about the value of their vote? If they think that low of their vote then can it be true to say, as a constituent, they feel their existence in the grander scheme of things within their government is left unheard, or inevitably worthless?

As politicians willing to lead, how do you go through the motions of politics knowing you were voted in on a sham because the ones that didn’t vote don’t believe in their government-federal and state, or you as a politician with many words and promises?

How does a government get to a point where a portion of We, The People feel as if we are victims to the unreliable Wheel of What-Fresh-Hell-Is-This-Today!

How does a government get to the point where “We, the People” have spoken, but it is a certain group hell-bent on striking back at everyone instead of doing what is in the best interest of the country as a whole? 

Or is it when constituents tell the government over and over they do not want something and a vague compromise is set forth, yet the outcome is not in favor of the constituents?

I know government is not perfect, but over time when the constituents yell at the governing body that things aren’t right and it needs to change, the governing body does nothing and holds “We, The People” hostage with laws made supposedly to ensure our rights, when we are just held hostage by them. Yet, we as constituents feel violated by the workings of our fellow man with spiteful choices and decision-making.

I was accused of spreading the hate but it would seem Trump did a fine job of that on his own with the help of his voters-whoever they are.

I also wondered with Trump voters, if this being at the whim of government means clutching onto the first person believed to be like a messiah, and voting them into office with the hope “We, The People” will be heard by the people we elected-even though “We, The People” is not a whole agreeable unit but different rations of a voting system in portion for a final outcome. 

“We, the People” in this case is Trump Nation. I am from the “We, the People of America.” How about you?

It stinks to high heaven like the War between the North and South-that was a racial epithet to how mistreating people will backfire in your face.

I didn’t do any of that hate-mongering. That was Trump, his rally followers, and those going around putting nasty things on minorities property. 

Yet, you will reap what you sow.

I had a friend over the age of 60, Caucasian female that believed Trump was sent from God to solve the problems of America. I stared in horror when she admitted sending money to his campaign. She really believed there were people out there voting who were sent by the Devil to keep America down. I wondered exactly what and who she thought America was. My tentative submission would be merely the Christian people of her choosing. She also believes there is a limited amount of space in heaven and some of us just won’t cut it.  I talked to someone about that particular episode. The consensus was: Wow, she has really fallen off the path. Maybe you need to cut ties with her?

You would be surprised how much of this strange indoctrination of voting based on religious belief is hammered out in churches in certain parts of the country.  I know of at least three churches I set foot in where I walked right back out based on the content of the sermon, and the way parishners treat everyone like an opportunity to show God just how holy they are-then post it to the internet.

Don’t worry. They make sure their children probably don’t have a say in their vote because the vote is streamlined straight through the family. They all vote the same, regardless of whether they want to vote different.

I put the question to task: In the face of voter apathy reeling our country into the panic zone, because some of us know what’s up, how do we go about digging into the mentality of these non-voters in the next four years to get them to be on-point and vote?

What about the backfires? Backfires are fires started to check an advancing fire by clearing an area.

We have already seen this in the form of protests. Protests that are likely to flare up over the next for years and I will not surprised if violence explodes somewhere and people are harmed.

I don't like to be all gloom and doom but there it is.

Of course, people like that religious lady friend of mine will say it is God’s work and those people against Trump deserve it because they are possessed by the evil spirit of the Devil.

I will interject here, being personally religious, this lady might be a small clutch of people. The rest might be okay.

What about now empowered voters, whose chosen candidate has won, advancing on those opposed to that candidate in such a way to make you think the winning candidate’s supporters really show they see a difference in you versus them. This difference is enough to ask you to leave your own country and aggression towards you? That doesn’t seem to be democratic at all.

When did America get to the point where we are judged, measured and found lacking to be American by other Americans?

The thing about this is: karma swings back around to serve you up the same quality bowl of ‘suck this Too-Big-For-Your-Britches magic'. When it comes, that one is gonna hurt.

I told you the darkness might come. Never say when, where or how; just that it would come.

If Trump and Hillary taught me anything it would be this:

Anyone can run for President with any kind of platform, both proper and vulgar, and get away with it. There is a group out there that does not want women to advance. There is a deeply flawed thought process flowing through the non-voter brain that we need to correct. STAT!

In terms of Trump, I am sure the ones running this country will be his kids. He will be a figurehead. The Republican Party is now the dominant force in true coup fashion.

If Trump were smart, he would hire all those against him, and let them lead his presidency by allowing the others to have input into his leadership. That is what a boss does. You pick the winning team.

That would burn a lot of Trump supporters because they would not be expecting that. It would appear Trump constituents are wanting the protection of a bully that can push people around.

Isn’t that what happens when you put a fox in  a hen house?

On a positive note, two African-American couples were talking to me. One of the men jokingly said, “Be patriotic. Give me a discount.”

I said, “Did you see who was elected President?”

The man laughed, “He says he is going to do something. Let’s see what he can do.”

I laughed. If these African-American couples can have some hope Trump won’t be as bad as he has impressed himself to be, there is a spark of Hope in this strange reality.

That is all I ask for: Hope in this messy situation.

I’ll go on that for now and wait to see what the fall-out is going to be over the next four years.

By the way, those of you that came to me defending Trump, if he does well you will not see me. If he screws up this country, I will find you in four years, show up to your social media door, and we are going to have a long chat.

Why? For the LOLZ

Otherwise, I need to work out my plan for four years because a woman will sit in that Oval Office-and other places in the government. If there is anyone willing to help me make this plan send me a message.

Even if it takes spending all my free time with teenagers, or anyone else living in voter apathy, to get it across to them that they matter, their vote matters, and their place in the world is worth fighting for no matter what is standing before them. It would be time well spent.

Let the games begin…..

Written by: Angelia Y Larrimore

                   WH Bloodworth