America and Americans are not popular, currently, world-wide, it seems. Are you proud to be an American these days? Some Americans consider moving out, renouncing their citizenship, seceding, or not voting, in protest. This is what we call symbolic protest.
The positive value of symbolic protest, beyond the self-expression of the individual, is hard to measure. But the impact on the vote is easy to figure: one Democratic vote lost equals one Republican vote gained. I'd like to focus on an analogous group of protesters. Most of us know people in this group, I'm guessing. And they may be more open to rational argument than the non-voters above.
I have in mind those who are eligible for citizenship but are not busy becoming citizens. More...
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