I think voting is very valuable from a “moral trade” perspective. I want to convince other people to take my ideas of virtue seriously, but they won’t if they see me doing something that’s commonsense unvirtuous like not voting.
I agree that this might help with persuasion, but I’m not sure this really counts as moral trade. By voting, you’re diluting the effect of everyone else’s votes. So plausibly you are harming everyone else by voting. If this counts as a trade for them, it’s a perverse one, where they would be better off not trading.
Of course, you could make the reasonable counter-argument that you have studied economics, history etc. far more than the average voter, so are actually helping by diluting the impact of stupid voters. But that’s not so much trade as paternalism.
If this counts as a trade for them, it’s a perverse one, where they would be better off not trading.
Not if the person values democracy for the sake democracy, rather than achieving particular legislative aims. I feel like many of my friends are like this.
I think voting is very valuable from a “moral trade” perspective. I want to convince other people to take my ideas of virtue seriously, but they won’t if they see me doing something that’s commonsense unvirtuous like not voting.
I agree that this might help with persuasion, but I’m not sure this really counts as moral trade. By voting, you’re diluting the effect of everyone else’s votes. So plausibly you are harming everyone else by voting. If this counts as a trade for them, it’s a perverse one, where they would be better off not trading.
Of course, you could make the reasonable counter-argument that you have studied economics, history etc. far more than the average voter, so are actually helping by diluting the impact of stupid voters. But that’s not so much trade as paternalism.
Not if the person values democracy for the sake democracy, rather than achieving particular legislative aims. I feel like many of my friends are like this.