Something from the younger population...

[LiveWire]

This Tuesday, on every chanel, I heard the same thing:

The youth vote isnt a factor in this election. It wont make a difference.
Even with some 21 million young americans voting (many for the first time) no one took our views seriously. And now, with a President who still couldnt give a crap about the youth (except to where to send their draft cards) we stand at a crossroad.

So long as the television pundits, and the government wont take us seriously, I will never vote again. Furthermore, my friends and I hae decided, that in 2006 when we are all graduated from college, we will leave the United States and never look back.

It is not that I am unamerican, it is just that I do not like where my country is going. And after a futile effort to change things (with the idea that my vote actually meant something) we have decided to leave. Im sorry that it has had to come to this, but it seems the only way, short of armed rebellion.

[insanity]

1. hey

the only way to get the politicans to give a shit about you is to vote. Why do you think the AARP is the biggest lobby group? It is becuase old people vote. I'm an 18 year old, I know what it is like to be discourged, but we have to stay and fight this country will need us.

[LiveWire]

2. This country has abandoned its youth a long time ago

I will never see an ounce of Social Security, that is if I dont die in some war sometime in the near future. I refuse to not be heard! No politician gives a rats ass about my generation; that is why you dont see anyone running on the education reform platform. If I cannot participate in this countries political process, then this is not the country for me.

[Tweed]

3. You can not run from the United States

You live in a global world and the US has the most power. If you leave the country, you will still have to live with the results of this country. You might as well be here and fight!

[LiveWire]

5. I will fight...

But not from a place that promotes bigotry and intollerance in its very constitution. Wake up people. Do you not realize that we are all on a sinking ship? What happens after bush's 4 years are over? Do you think that another Democrat can be elected? We are outnumbered, and are slowly losing this race.

[Egnever]

Our Continued World Domination is hardly assured.

Wait four years and tell me that again please.

[Tweed]

7. True, I agree but certainly our pollution will only remain and get worse

We must stick around and fight to control our resources.

[Heath.Hunnicutt]

4. I heard that! But there is a middle path!

LiveWire,

I'm 32, so it's not like I really would know. All I can do is say how I see it.

Thanks for voting, and tell your friends people said thanks.

I have been thinking that there are open doors we can use to take over the election system. The jobs working at the polls are filled by the county, and they don't pay well. The people who take them are mostly volunteers.

At my poll, the nice old lady trying to give me my ballot couldn't see well enough to find my name where I was supposed to sign! It was not a good situation for a tight election!

Have you ever noticed, you go to the polls, and all the employees are retirees? That is because it's a part-time job and nobody else wants it!

We have got to change this.

Between now and 2008, there are going to be lots of local elections. If we try, by 2008 it will be normal to see young people working at the polls on election day. You can feel comfortable walking into a poll operated by your peers.

Best of all, you can make sure that your precinct is run fairly and squarely. You can be one of the people running it.

By 2012, some of us will have advanced to more responsible positions in central tallying.

There are other jobs like this. Shit jobs that are like the black-hooded men in Fight Club -- together, the workers control the means of production. Or in this case, the Poll Workers control the Means of Election.

[LiveWire]

6. Its a funny thing about my peers...

We are all full-time college students, or just barely scarping by on our minimum wage. When I didnt go to college and have to support myself, I had tons of volunteer hours.

Its a sad thing to say that I will probably never walk into a poll run by my peers. There is a reason why they are run by the retired: they dont have to work for a living. While im out working two jobs and carrying 19 units, they are reaping in SS checks and volunteering. Im so sick of this system. I was told that I could change everything, and now I know that that was never true.

[Heath.Hunnicutt]

9. Actually, the county does pay some moderate wage for poll work

But I was more like thinking in 2-3 years for you, it might be doable. It's doable now for me, and although I am not 20, I'm not 70, and I am disappointed to see no 'thirty-somethings' working at the polls.

It would be a start, at least.

Anyway, how many people work at the poll in your precinct? 5? What if you talked two students who are trust-fund kids into infiltrating that system?

[Blaq Dem]

8. Don't give up!!!

Hey, I'm black. My ancestors and I have a long history of disappointments in this country. But most of us refuse to give up. We have no choice but to fight because we have no where to go. We must keep this thing going and fight it everyday.

This election was very critical to black Americans. We catch the brunt of everything. I can't tell you how many people I know have already lost their jobs due to job cuts. I can't telly you how many of us lack health care. You're lucky. You have a fine education. People in my neighborhood lacks that kind of support. The hardest part is seeing my community deteriorating day by day. It's like a third world country around here.

It's tough but we must prevail.

[Egnever]

10. Dont vote

Run for office instead.