> Sure, but there's really no harm voting if you really are completely ignorant -- you and the people like you will just be noise in the final tally. First of

> Sure, but there's really no harm voting if you really are completely ignorant -- you and the people like you will just be noise in the final tally. First of all, I don't think that forms a very good argument for the idea that "everyone should vote". Second, that's the best case scenario. The worst case scenario is that you are completely ignorant but harbor misconceptions that make you susceptible to useless or destructive populism, which creates an incentive for opportunist politicians to base their outward facing platforms on that, allowing them to not so clearly and visibly create real opportunities only for themselves. > But most people aren't completely ignorant, and the return on going deeper in the political process isn't that great if all you're trying to do is decide how to fill out your ballot. The problem of how to fill out your ballot is not removed from its consequences. If all you want to do is put a name on a ballot, again, please refrain from voting. If you are at all concerned with what your choice entails other than having filled out the ballot, I sincerely believe that you owe it to yourself and everyone else to be informed and to inform. The idea that politics isn't for everyone (but that voting somehow is) scares me. That politics might not being your "thing" is only true of hermits that have effectively removed themselves from society. For everyone else, it is your thing. What might not be your thing is caring about it, which I think is sad for the same reason someone not caring about their health is.