Raw Story: 'We lost sight': Russian dissidents have warning for anti-Trump Americans

[SpankMe]

16. Politics vs. voting

When younger people - especially men - were interviewed pre-election, many said they didn't plan to vote because they didn't follow or "do" politics. Some appear to believe that they have to be engaged full time in the rough and tumble of politics before they may vote - following every pundit, reading every article, posting their opinions on social media, studying every issue like it was a college course, etc.

This is like saying you have to be an expert in the science and engineering of internal combustion engines before you can drive a car.

We should be promoting a narrative that everyone should vote, whether they're "into" politics or not. General awareness of public affairs is part of good citizenship. Knowing what the candidates stand for in general is all you need to know in order to vote; you don't have to get into the muck of defense or economic policy.

This is one area where the concept of political parties may be useful. Most people have broad philosophies that fall into the camp of one or the other party. Instead of doing micro-analysis of each candidate's policies and intentions - where one might find a single issue that's a deal-breaker for them in spite of agreeing with the candidate on every other issue - these "lazy" voters can vote by party instead of candidate.

Everyone should make time for this familiarization by keeping up with news on a weekly basis and maintain enough of a situational awareness of the flow of public affairs to cast a reasonably informed vote. This is our civic duty.

Almost a third of Americans of voting age didn't vote in this election. This indifference, apathy or laziness is what allows extremist voting to get amplified. The result is Trump.