New Study Shows How Sleep Deprivation Decreases Voter Turnout

Kate Harveston

Kate Harveston is originally from Williamsport, PA and holds a bachelor's degree in English. She enjoys writing about health and social justice issues. When she isn't writing, she can usually be found curled up reading dystopian fiction or hiking and searching for inspiration. If you like her writing, follow her blog, So Well, So Woman.

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3 Responses

  1. George Turner says:

    People who need a nap have no obligation to do anything social. Perhaps it’s a shame that their napping means they aren’t always available for maximum exploitation by the elites in politics and business, but that’s just the way it is.

    In many socialist countries they get around the napping problem by making public participation mandatory, with the severest consequences for shirking. Everyone must participate in social causes for the good of the volk! In Germany was mainly just a way to show how great the party was, and to squeeze money out of the public so the government didn’t have to raise taxes to cover the generous social safety net and a giant military buildup. When you see those vast North Korean parades and synchronized public dance displays, you’re looking at a whole lot of people who’d rather be napping but prefer forced dancing to beatings and starvation.

    I think it’s incumbent on every sleepy American, if awoken from a nap, to devote themselves to destroying the political dreams and futures of whoever woke them up, because they didn’t revolt against British rule to end up treated like galley slaves.Report

  2. Zac Black says:

    Interesting stuff, and it makes intuitive sense. The connection between the way in which capitalism affects us on a physical level and our ability to have a functioning democracy, which highlights the gap between our notions of the latter and the democratic ideals we claim to cherish, reminds me of one of my favorite quotes, from Bob Black (who in fairness I’m not totally politically sympatico with but who I think is spot on with this observation):

    “The official line is that we all have rights and live in a democracy. Other unfortunates who aren’t free like we are have to live in police states. These victims obey orders or else, no matter how arbitrary. The authorities keep them under regular surveillance. State bureaucrats control even the smallest details of everyday life. The officials who push them around are answerable only to higher-ups, public or private. Either way, dissent or disobedience are punished. Informers report regularly to the authorities. All this is supposed to be a very bad thing.

    And so it is, although it is nothing but a description of the modern workplace.”Report

  3. Michael Cain says:

    I live in a vote-by-mail state, with voting centers as a back up (voting centers can do same day registration and cast your ballot). I would urge that rather than an election-day holiday. The holiday won’t be one, at least for many people. Police and fire will be working. Hospitals will be open. Public transit will be running. If it’s like other holidays in America, most fast food and groceries will be open much of the day. Well-off white collar workers will mostly get a day off, a small portion of which they would spend voting. Working class folks, not so much.

    Our vote-by-mail system gives everyone two weeks to find a few minutes to fill out the ballot. We win awards for accuracy and security. Our participation rate is almost always in the top few states in the country. I don’t actually credit vote-by-mail for a lot of the turnout. We have citizen initiatives, and there’s almost always something of substantial interest on the ballot.Report