Sunday, May 28, 2006

Suffrage in America

Does it bother anyone else that more Americans exercised their right to vote for the final American Idol than have ever exercised their right to vote for President?

Now I realize, of course, that people under the age of 18 can vote for their favorite American Idol contestant, and so can convicted felons, so I suppose generally speaking that throws a few more people into the mix.

There are around 190 million registered voters in America, and only 62 million of those voted in the highly contested 2004 election (which was, I believe, one of the highest voter counts ever), which means that 32% of registered voters actually voted. If 63.4 million people voted for the American Idol final, and out of 292 million Americans subtract a few million for the people under the age to give a damn and a few million more who are of age but still don't give a damn, and you probably end up with a similar percentage. What is even more frightening is this:

Yesterday's result came on the heels of a survey last month that found one in ten Americans had voted on American Idol and 35 per cent of viewers said that they considered the vote as important - if not more important - than if it were for the presidency.

Now, I am not here to put down American Idol or its fans. There are similar Greek shows of which my in-laws are equally enamored. But really? Just as important as the presidency? This is why we are fighting a war with Iraq and might be nuking the living crap out of Iran? Seriously?

Ok, I'm using a bit of poetic license with the hyperbole. But if this is really the attitude of a chunk of Americans then, well, wow. I think we've seriously lost some perspective here. Wake up and smell the soma, people. Take some responsibility for your government first, lest they be telling you exactly who you can vote for in the future.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mel,

Maybe during the presidential elections, they should have a talent portion, where candidates could sing, or perform in addition to debating etc.

Then we could dial a 900 number and vote for our candidate. See if that don't raise the number of registered voters.

We could call it "American Idiot".

Kassandra said...

Wake up and smell the soma indeed! Love the Brave New World reference - it's so apropos. Hearing this kind of stuff, in combination with the tenessee high-school grad you posted about the other day, really makes my hair curl. Sometimes I think the world's going to hell in a handbasket (and it's not just the US - I find British, Canadian and Greek youth generally just as painfully clueless, materialistic, and shallow - and it's probably the same in most countries). I think the book should be put on school curriculums' required reading lists around the world. Or, probably better yet, they should make it a blockbuster-style movie. Though it might go over their heads.