Your goal should be to get more people to vote, not to vote less. People like you and me aren't represented because too many people like you and me don't vote. That is the issue. We are outvoted. We are not courted because we aren't as reliable as those centrist and moderate voters we are trying to beat. So we lose over and over again.
Accept this. Swallow this. It doesn't matter how much you love Bernie Sanders or how popular he is with American Youth. It does not matter if he has activated a generation of young people in to believing what is politically possible. It only matters if they vote for him and people like him. You will not get your candidates elected if you don't vote. This means actually voting.
It also means holding the line against your opposition - which is Republicans - so that your lives and the lives of your peers are not destroyed in the meantime. You are not voting against moderate Democrats, you are voting against Republicans, so you should take some responsibility and stay part of the process because you will never, ever see the change we want to see if you don't actually participate. I promise you that. Every battle you cede to Republicans is ground you are losing that you may never get back in your lifetime.
You cannot make other young people vote. But you can show up. So show up.
Edit: You do not owe your vote to "the establishment." But you owe your vote to other people - the people you are trying to protect and see served. That is who you are voting for. If you would leave them in Trump's hands then you have forsaken them.
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