Voting vs Video Games

[The Huskar Social Union]

...And?

Voting still affects my life more than playing video games does, as i am casting my support for different politicians whose policies can affect my life, for good or worse.

I find that far more important than playing a video game despite my great love for them.

your one personal vote will never decide an election nor directly change any policies...

on the other hand you are losing a LIFETIME of video gaming...

Well... it is your choice but... really?

I just don't see the value cost-benefit wise. You don't have to vote to enjoy the benefits of a government voted in by others. It honestly doesn't make that much of a difference which party is in power. They are all roughly centrists anyways.

Wrong, my vote last week swung the vote on whether or not to destroy earth with a Martian war fleet to Yea-hahaha i mean, whaaaaaat?

Seriously though, i would rather vote in general and voice my opinion regardless of my vote deciding something or not, that not being able to do it all together.

Also i have other hobbies that can occupy my time, yeah ill be bummed for a while but ill manage.

[Czechanada]

Hope your post affects him enough to spell words properly.

Yeah i spelt one word wrong a few times whilst typing quickly on the internet, take me away to the cell blocks chief, i violated the law in the worst fashion possible.

It's off to the Wall for you!

[The Huskar Social Union]

Yeah i spelt one word wrong a few times whilst typing quickly on the internet, take me away to the cell blocks chief, i violated the law in the worst fashion possible.

It's off to the Wall for you!

No one sends the King of the Paradox Thread to the wall! No one!

[Ifreann]

...And?

Voting still affects my life more than playing video games does, as i am casting my support for different politicians whose policies can affect my life, for good or worse.

I find that far more important than playing a video game despite my great love for them.

your one personal vote will never decide an election nor directly change any policies...

on the other hand you are losing a LIFETIME of video gaming...

Well... it is your choice but... really?

I just don't see the value cost-benefit wise. You don't have to vote to enjoy the benefits of a government voted in by others. It honestly doesn't make that much of a difference which party is in power. They are all roughly centrists anyways.

Since turning 18 I have helped to decide the outcome of several referenda and elections. Since I started playing video games when I was...7 or 8 maybe, I haven't accomplished anything that I couldn't equally have accomplished reading books or watching TV or listening to music. It's not even a hard decision.

[New confederate ramenia]

Choose to vote, I don't even play video games (except NS)

[Australian rePublic]

Question if I gave up voting, would I still be eligible to run for politics?

[Infected Mushroom]

your one personal vote will never decide an election nor directly change any policies...

on the other hand you are losing a LIFETIME of video gaming...

Well... it is your choice but... really?

I just don't see the value cost-benefit wise. You don't have to vote to enjoy the benefits of a government voted in by others. It honestly doesn't make that much of a difference which party is in power. They are all roughly centrists anyways.

Since turning 18 I have helped to decide the outcome of several referenda and elections. Since I started playing video games when I was...7 or 8 maybe, I haven't accomplished anything that I couldn't equally have accomplished reading books or watching TV or listening to music. It's not even a hard decision.

your single vote changed the outcome?

the only context I think that might reasonably happen is in a high school home room presidency vote or something

[Infected Mushroom]

Question if I gave up voting, would I still be eligible to run for politics?

Yes

[Australian rePublic]

Question if I gave up voting, would I still be eligible to run for politics?

Yes

So you run, but you can't vote. Makes plenty of sense!

[Infected Mushroom]

your one personal vote will never decide an election nor directly change any policies...

on the other hand you are losing a LIFETIME of video gaming...

Well... it is your choice but... really?

I just don't see the value cost-benefit wise. You don't have to vote to enjoy the benefits of a government voted in by others. It honestly doesn't make that much of a difference which party is in power. They are all roughly centrists anyways.

Wrong, my vote last week swung the vote on whether or not to destroy earth with a Martian war fleet to Yea-hahaha i mean, whaaaaaat?

Seriously though, i would rather vote in general and voice my opinion regardless of my vote deciding something or not, that not being able to do it all together.

Also i have other hobbies that can occupy my time, yeah ill be bummed for a while but ill manage.

Okay but think about this way.

Why are you making the sacrifice?

What is it that you hope to achieve?

I mean the immediate and permanent loss is obvious (you can't play video games for the rest of your life). What is the gain for it?

You retain the right to cast a single vote. Sure... Now WHY is this one vote so important to you that you're willing to give up a lifetime of video game entertainment?

I just don't see the point.

As established, one vote is never going to change the outcome of an election. So whether you as a single person show up to vote or not, whether you vote A or B... it made no difference. That time utility-wise, could have been spent on any number of other more worthwhile pursuits. It doesn't even have to be video games. It could be socialising, work, or even rest in bed.

Did you lose anything by losing the power to vote as a person? Not really. You never really had the power to change anything. No loss of power.

Its certainly not a loss of pleasure either. Playing video games is fun, voting not so much. Even if you ENJOY the ceremony of showing up to vote, it happens once or twice a year. For the rest of 360ish days you have to deal with the No Video Game curse.

I just don't see the point.

Help me see why this is valuable sacrifice/trade-off here. What have you accomplished besides the loss of a mode of entertainment for yourself?

[New confederate ramenia]

Yes

So you run, but you can't vote. Makes plenty of sense!

You can be a Senator but can't vote on bills in the Senate.

[Ifreann]

Since turning 18 I have helped to decide the outcome of several referenda and elections. Since I started playing video games when I was...7 or 8 maybe, I haven't accomplished anything that I couldn't equally have accomplished reading books or watching TV or listening to music. It's not even a hard decision.

your single vote changed the outcome?

What part of "helped to decide the outcome" makes you think that I alone decided the outcome?

[Infected Mushroom]

Yes

So you run, but you can't vote. Makes plenty of sense!

The right and ability to vote vs the right and ability to run for office are not one and the same for the purposes of the OP; the only way this might come into play is if you somehow lived in a country where they have a law where you need to have voted in the current electoral year (or some other year) in order to be eligible (but I'm not aware of that)

for all intents and purposes, the right to run for office remains whatever you choose (presumptively)

[Ifreann]

As established, one vote is never going to change the outcome of an election.

That's a lie.

[Infected Mushroom]

your single vote changed the outcome?

What part of "helped to decide the outcome" makes you think that I alone decided the outcome?

You didn't materially ''help'' at all if Give or Take your vote, the result would have been the same.

And again... why is the self-delusion that you ''helped'' decide things in this country worth a lifetime of personal deprivation from video games?

[Infected Mushroom]

As established, one vote is never going to change the outcome of an election.

That's a lie.

There may have been the very rare historical exception, but as an overarching rule of thumb, that's how it is

one vote doesn't matter

[Australian rePublic]

So you run, but you can't vote. Makes plenty of sense!

You can be a Senator but can't vote on bills in the Senate.

-"Hi, I am Joe Blow and I am a citizen of your electorate. The government wants to take my house when building the new airport, please vote against them"
-"I'm sorry, I'm not authorised to vote"
-"?"
-"Yea, I'm video game player"
-"I see. Now who's going to represent us?"
-"I don't know? What do you want me to do about? I am not authorised to make the laws"
-"But you're a politician"
-"Yea, I don't get it either"

[The Huskar Social Union]

In 1911 Conservative Henry Duke retained his representative seat at Exeter by a single vote with the votes at 4777 to 4776

And there are other examples of similarly close elections decided by one or a handful of votes.

So yeah it has happened, and IM, every vote matters. Your argument is extremely hollow as you keep relying on the "Oh but a single vote has not decided the vast majority of elections in history" Yeah no fuckin shit they have not, but every vote matters in an election. Come on this is basic stuff.

[Infected Mushroom]

You can be a Senator but can't vote on bills in the Senate.

-"Hi, I am Joe Blow and I am a citizen of your electorate. The government wants to take my house when building the new airport, please vote against them"
-"I'm sorry, I'm not authorised to vote"
-"?"
-"Yea, I'm video game player"
-"I see. Now who's going to represent us?"
-"I don't know? What do you want me to do about? I am not authorised to make the laws"
-"But you're a politician"
-"Yea, I don't get it either"

If you read the OP in context, you'll notice that it says in one of the earlier paragraphs that you lose the power to cast a ballot once or twice a year... by this context it should be clear that I am referring to provincial/state/municipal/national elections as opposed to other situations where a vote might take place (such as within a workplace, within a family unit to decide where to eat dinner, as part of running a government from the inside, or as a sitting judge on the Supreme Court)

[Infected Mushroom]

In 1911 Conservative Henry Duke retained his representative seat at Exeter by a single vote with the votes at 4777 to 4776

And there are other examples of similarly close elections decided by one or a handful of votes.

So yeah it has happened, and IM, every vote matters. Your argument is extremely hollow as you keep relying on the "Oh but a single vote has not decided the vast majority of elections in history" Yeah no fuckin shit they have not, but every vote matters in an election. Come on this is basic stuff.

For THAT election, every vote DID matter. But that is statistical outlier, not the norm.

It didn't matter this election, nor did it matter in the last election, nor will it matter in the next (as far as every single vote)

[Australian rePublic]

-"Hi, I am Joe Blow and I am a citizen of your electorate. The government wants to take my house when building the new airport, please vote against them"
-"I'm sorry, I'm not authorised to vote"
-"?"
-"Yea, I'm video game player"
-"I see. Now who's going to represent us?"
-"I don't know? What do you want me to do about? I am not authorised to make the laws"
-"But you're a politician"
-"Yea, I don't get it either"

If you read the OP in context, you'll notice that it says in one of the earlier paragraphs that you lose the power to cast a ballot once or twice a year... by this context it should be clear that I am referring to provincial/state/municipal/national elections as opposed to other situations where a vote might take place (such as within a workplace, within a family unit to decide where to eat dinner, as part of running a government from the inside, or as a sitting judge on the Supreme Court)

But as a politician (at least in Australia) you already make those kinds of votes, in fact you do it with more power than the rest of the citizens, so it makes the concept redundant and a loophole

[Ifreann]

What part of "helped to decide the outcome" makes you think that I alone decided the outcome?

You didn't materially ''help'' at all if Give or Take your vote, the result would have been the same.

Scare quotes and added conditions. Awfully intellectually dishonest.

And again... why is the self-delusion

Excuse you, I'm not deluded.

---

That's a lie.

There may have been the very rare historical exception, but as an overarching rule of thumb, that's how it is

one vote doesn't matter

Every vote matters. That's why they count them all.

[The Huskar Social Union]

In 1911 Conservative Henry Duke retained his representative seat at Exeter by a single vote with the votes at 4777 to 4776

And there are other examples of similarly close elections decided by one or a handful of votes.

So yeah it has happened, and IM, every vote matters. Your argument is extremely hollow as you keep relying on the "Oh but a single vote has not decided the vast majority of elections in history" Yeah no fuckin shit they have not, but every vote matters in an election. Come on this is basic stuff.

For THAT election, every vote DID matter. But that is statistical outlier, not the norm.

It didn't matter this election, nor did it matter in the last election, nor will it matter in the next (as far as every single vote)

No in EVERY election, every vote matters, every single one. Its why the fucking count them all. Elections have been decided by a single vote, a pair of votes, a hundred votes, a thousand votes. They are all fucking important.

Again you are relying on one single point for your argument, in fact you do this near every single time you start a thread, and when repeatedly proven wrong and called out on it you still cling to it.

edit: Nah fuck this, i threw you on ignore for a reason, im not doing this anymore.

[Excidium Planetis]

Since turning 18 I have helped to decide the outcome of several referenda and elections. Since I started playing video games when I was...7 or 8 maybe, I haven't accomplished anything that I couldn't equally have accomplished reading books or watching TV or listening to music. It's not even a hard decision.

your single vote changed the outcome?

the only context I think that might reasonably happen is in a high school home room presidency vote or something

There have been US presidential elections in some states that were within a couple hundred votes... If just a few dozen people had decided to vote rather than stay at home playing videogames, the result might have been different. You think your one vote doesn't matter... But so do thousands of other people, and if they all voted they would make a difference.

And what happens if all the voters pass a law to give video game rights to all voters? What would happen then?

Anyways, with the number of people choosing vidya games over voting, I'm tempted to start my own country that offers free game consoles, video games, and internet... And then exercise my rights as supreme dictator.

[Infected Mushroom]

I feel that people are not really analysing this trade-off here with a clear degree of objectivity.

You cannot be blamed I suppose. Many many people these days are raised, coached, and drilled that the personal vote is somehow a duty, a responsibility, and above all... meaningful beyond question. To question the value of a single vote is to many the equivalent of a person questioning the legitimacy of the King of England and his divine authority in the days of old.

As a result, it is very easy to have a knee-jerk reaction where you go....

''Oh yeah... I would rather take a lifetime of deprivation from video games than forsake my right to vote.''

In a vacuum and in a thought experiment, its really easy to downplay what a lifetime of deprivation from video games would really look like.

And in the abstract, I suppose its very easy to say so and maybe there's even a certain misguided sense of pride that comes with it, saying ''Wow look at me... I am willing to give up a LIFETIME of video game entertainment JUST so that I can keep my one vote, I won't let the Founding Father down'' (after all, it certainly goes along with the unquestionable virtues and values that were drilled into us from birth).

But if you sit back and look at it objectively, and actually THINK about the trade-offs and what each brings to the table... it becomes rather clear that it makes no sense to cling on to the power to cast ONE single vote that will never decide a future election... at the cost of such stark life-long personal deprivation.

It just doesn't add up cost-benefit wise.