I don't believe in vote shaming. That wasn't always my position. After the last election, I gave everyone and anyone who admitted to voting for Trump a piece of my mind. Somewhere along the line though, I started to wonder about the actual utility behind vote shaming 1/

My conclusion was that it was much more for my own benefit than the benefit of others. It was a way to release pent up frustration that things didn't go the way that I wanted or, in other words, the way I felt people were morally obligated to vote 2/

That's not to say I don't hold some judgement against people for how they vote. Of course I do. But the reason I do so is because I view their choices through my own eyes to condemn them for their behavior. This is actually something I have to avoid daily in my work 3/

Most of my patients make poor health decisions. Many of them know they're failing to heed warnings, and many make those poor decisions deliberately while aware of the harm. Some regret those choices. Some don't. Some know why they shouldn't do something, many more have no idea 4/

Quite a few are misled but convinced they're right when corrected. Most are willing to acknowledge my counsel when given, and many of them try to follow instruction. The point is they all have reasons for why they do what they do with varying degrees of real justification 5/

Do I pass judgement? Of course! I have to. What I don't do is shame them. Because even if they're trying to trick me into prescribing some pain meds or totally convinced CBD cured their kidney failure, shaming them does nothing to help them, and helping is literally my job 6/

As I said earlier, the problem with shaming is that it views things solely through my own perspective. The truth is that patients, much like voters, believe in their justifications. I always tell students if it's real to the patient, you must at least acknowledge their reality 7/

That's true even if you follow up that acknowledgment with a contradiction. Their pain is real to them (usually) even if there isn't a source. They feel something in their throat even if scans and endoscopy show nothing. They're hearing voices even if the room is empty 8/

What good does it do to label someone a failure if they say they can't stop smoking because it's their only method of relieving stress? Of course they could stop. Anyone can physically stop if deprived of tobacco. Stopping wont kill them, it's the smoking that's killing them 9/

I've known several doctors that refuse to see patients with poor health or chronic disease if they don't stop smoking. What good does that do?! I have never heard of that method leading to someone successfully quitting. Most patients feel it's their right to smoke, goddamnit 10/

They're correct, of course. It IS 100% within their rights to smoke. I can't MAKE them stop, just like I can't MAKE someone vote the way I feel they should. And in some cases, as with smoking, their choices are justified for them even if I can't justify the same choice for me 11/

If someone is 95 and wants to smoke knowing the harm it does to their body, do you honestly think shaming them will get them to stop? Do you think they SHOULD stop given the pleasure it gives them for the limited amount of time they know they have left on this earth? 12/

In the same way, who am I to tell someone they're a horrible person if, for whatever reason, be it personal trauma or simple moral conviction, they cannot bring themselves to vote for someone they believe has been credibly accused of sexual assault 13/

Does it matter if said vote would be for an objectively "lesser evil?" Yes, and it likely matters for that person too, but I can't expect everything to carry the same significance for another person as it does to me 14/

Will that person's singular vote swing the result of the election? No.
Is that person in particular to blame for the consequences of that election? No.
If that one person votes the way you want, would that guarantee the outcome you desire? No. 15/

Is your anger truly over their vote or is it over the result? All of this isn't to say that every vote is justified. Some judging is inevitable, remember? My point is that the act of shaming that person does nothing to help the situation and is more liable to cause harm 16/

It's not a productive outlet for frustration. It doesn't get you the outcome you wanted. And most importantly, it keeps you from empathizing why someone might be justified in making those choices FOR THEMSELVES. That's who they're ultimately accountable to 17/

Because even though every vote is important, every person's vote is going to be most important to the person that casts it. They're not dictating the result of the election. They're not making history. They're making the best choice they think they can make in that moment /END

Postscript: I know I cast a lot of shade online at people I generally don't respect over their politics and yeah, that's sorta hypocritical. I'm not claiming to be perfect. We're all contradictory creatures. This is just what I believe even if I don't always live up to it.