joshsternberg:

So if the markets have declined, or tumbled, if you will, because in part of the lack of confidence of the U.S. debt issue, can we dig deeper to the root cause of this is people not voting?

In the 2010 midterm election, 40.9% of the eligible population voted. Less than half. Way less than half. With 59% of the population not voting, it allowed the Tea Party to ‘get swept into office.’ With the Tea Party in Congress not willing to budge on anything, compromise gets tossed, as well as confidence. That confidence, or lack thereof, can be seen as a prime culprit in the market’s collapse, right? So, if more of the electorate voted (assuming they would vote for mainstream Dem or GOP - not fringe sects of either party) would we be in this situation?

This also falls in line with my ridiculous theory that Bart Simpson is at fault for our nation’s ails. If The Simpsons aren’t as successful as they are in 1989/1990, Murdoch doesn’t have enough cash to keep Fox running. Which means he won’t have enough cash in 1996 to create Fox News, which means Clinton’s 2nd term won’t get hijacked by a cigar, and the quick swing from center to right wouldn’t happen as quickly. Bush wouldn’t be elected and the Republican party wouldn’t be taken over by people who haven’t quite figured it out what it means to truly love America.

I’d love to hear some of the more politically astute Tumblrers thoughts on this - both the correlation between not voting and the economic calamity, as well as the Bart Simpson “did it” theory. Stupid Thought exercise, away!