Do we have a moral obligation to vote Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Do we have a moral financial obligation to vote - Essay ExampleBased on the idea of individual morality, an act shtup be defined as rational if its expected costs do not exceed its expected benefits as defined by the individual making the decision. The expected costs of voting would include travel expenses as well as time spent researching the lavdidates and updating a voters registration card. It can be deduced then that the expected costs of voting are quite small. The government issue of having voted could result in the winning of either the candidate one has voted for or another candidate altogether. It is easy to decide not to vote as one single vote is almost irrelevant compared to millions of other votes but if everyone choose this viewpoint then no one would vote and we might end up living in a dictatorship form of government where the mint have no say at all. So, it can be said that voting may cost an individual (even though the cost is rather miniscule) more(prenomi nal) then the expected benefit, as the individual can argue that their vote will never cook up a difference among all the other votes but the cost though small, is certain. This however, is from an individuals panorama as opposed to looking at a assemblage of people or the entire country.It may be theoretically irrational for an individual to waste time and money voting as the outcome of the election will not balance on their vote, but the individual votes of a group of people suddenly becomes rational as the cost remains small to each individual but the election outcome in the groups favor will be beneficial. From a consequentialitys perspective, the end is to act in the most moral way to bring about positive consequences for a group as a whole. This clearly means that voting is certainly the moral thing to do for the majority and outweighs the minimal costs to individuals.Critically speaking however, it can also be said that moral right is attached to individuals and their actions so seeking the best possible outcome should also