Voting alone has little to nothing to do with participating in political life. Imagine if you earned karma on HN by voting rather than by being voted up. Part

Voting alone has little to nothing to do with participating in political life. Imagine if you earned karma on HN by voting rather than by being voted up. Participating as a citizen means trying to understand what makes society work, applying this knowledge to your own life, and using reason to convince others of your views. It also means listening to others' reasoning and being open to being convinced to change your own views. The keys are Reason and Freedom. You have these abilities and rights by virtue of being Human. Use them, that is true citizenship.