The Civic Cost of Choosing Not to Participate in Politics — Featuring Carl Able

When people don’t engage in politics, they are giving those in power permission to do whatever they want. Silence is consent.

Sean’s Monologue: Political Polarization and Disillusionment 

Today, Coup Save America is joined by Carl Able, the founder of Crayon Box Politics - a civic-tech and media initiative dedicated to making political information accessible, transparent, and engaging for the public.

Sean and Carl begin the episode with a discussion about what it means to be politically disengaged. Carl draws examples from over two decades of service in the marines to show how participating on a community level can be so much more impactful and fulfilling than putting energy into national politics.

Does voting really matter? Carl uses the Trump vs. Harris campaign to assure us that turnout makes all the difference. He and Sean talk about barriers to voting. While reluctant to point fingers, Carl does admit that a certain group of people seems “more oriented on election security as a means of election suppression.” They discuss whether voter fraud is really a problem, how voting should ideally happen, and the opposite messages of 1984 and A Brave New World.

Carl and Sean go on to talk about the difficulties of ousting an incumbent local politician. Carl points out the problems that occur when our two-party system “holds a death grip” on the state election board. They talk about the Articles of Federation and how our nation’s founding fathers knew that governance could not always be held at an elite level. Carl points out how the states are now stepping up to balance out the current overstepping of the federal government.

The conversation returns to the cost of civic non-participation. We hear about healthy skepticism versus lack of engagement, and Carl tells us how he responds to people who say, “But there’s no candidate on the ballot who aligns with my ideals.” He also dispels the idea that we should simply give up the fight since both parties are corrupt. Carl tell us about politicians, such as Jasmine Crockett, who have gone a long way after starting with very little…and those who have increased their net worth via politics without any intention to fight for the people. Listen to hear about his awesome idea for politician baseball cards.

Carl and Sean struggle with the dilemma of maintaining neutrality in today’s ultra-polarized political climate. Carl bemoans how Crayon Box Politics can sometimes come across as partisan because his organization takes “a hardline stance on any policies that are written/enacted in such a way that they infringe on the human rights of any individual.” He uses ICE attacks on undocumented citizens as an example.

As the episode continues, Carl tells us about his weekly podcasts and how a little bit of “butt breathing” is a good way to take a break from the stress of current events. They talk about the decline of civil education in school, the No Kings protests, neoliberalism, countering disinformation, and much, much more about the many aspects of voting – including (but not limited to) how the people of Colorado voted to raise taxes so kids could eat, why we use the Australian voting system, and how voters used to get shot for choosing the ‘wrong’ candidate. 

Carl also shares information about his upcoming project – The Archivist – and AI tool to help with civil engagement. He and Sean talk about campaign finance reform and how information needs to be more accessible to the average user.

Carl’s overlying message is one of empathy and caring about issues that don’t directly affect you. He closes the show by telling us what serving in the military taught him about transparency and giving us more information about Crayon Box Politics (including where the name came from).

To find out more, visit:

https://www.crayonboxpolitics.com/

https://www.crayonboxpolitics.com/podcast

https://www.facebook.com/crayonboxpolitics/