This essay certainly gives the traditional reasons for voting with the usual shaming of the non-voters. I beg to differ on many points of this essay.

If the trailer park people are traditional non-voters, then I would say one big reason why they don’t vote is that the proffered candidates — you know, the ones with the nice clothes and fancy car — are outside of the trailer park community. The two cultures just don’t mix. The trailer park people really can’t vote for someone they identify with. In Tiered Democratic Governance, they can vote one of their own people into governance. Voting will be more relevant to them. Then they will have their voice in government!

The most important voter block in all western democracies are the non-voters. Political parties have instinctively learned not to offend this group. If the non voters are offended, some of them will find the motivation to vote for the other side. In almost all American elections, a fraction of non-voters can easily throw out the favored candidate who the polls are predicting to win.

As well as the potential to turn into a voting force, the non-voters have another power behind them. If life get too rough, they will take to the streets as they feel they have nothing left to lose. Even though they don’t vote, the social order does placate this group to some degree. Imagine the turmoil if USA decides to cut off all welfare payments to the non-voters! Please read my article on the year 1848. Those same social forces still apply today.

Finally, this article — like many other Medium political articles — fails to consider how political parties manage their soft support and the soft support of their political rivals. For Medium readers who want to learn about hard and soft support, I have written this article.