Political Memes

Observe, the species, Doesn’t Know How Voting Works in its natural habitat: the comment thread. When confronted with the basic mechanics of civic participation, it emits a plaintive cry "What options did you leave me with?” as though choice itself were an external force imposed upon it by predators known as “corporate Dems.”

Note the confusion. The species believes voting is something that happens after all desired outcomes are guaranteed, rather than the mechanism by which those outcomes are pursued. It demands that representatives be voted out before it votes, a remarkable example of temporal dislocation. Cause and effect have collapsed into one another.

This behavior is not malicious, merely maladaptive. Faced with imperfect options, the creature opts for ritualized sulking instead of strategic participation. It mistakes abstention for leverage, and indignation for agency.

A tragic irony, really. By refusing to engage, Doesn’t Know How Voting Works ensures the very conditions it claims to despise persist, then wonders aloud how such a thing could possibly have happened. Fascinating.