Things I don't quite understand

I'm going to admit right now, I don't know a whole lot about how the government works, taxes, any of that crap...I don't vote either. I've never had any interest.

Suddenly all this stuff sort of impacts me directly and I'm left not having a clue what it all means. I don't even know how to write this post! Basically working for a non-profit "organization" -- namely, the public school system -- has a lot more of an effect on my life than I thought it would. It's also a lot different than working for a regular, profitable company. Besides the fact that I don't get profit sharing anymore (hello, no profit to share) there are also many other things coming to light that I didn't know about or didn't think of until now that I've been here almost a full year. Like, for instance, how taxes really affect my job directly. There's a whole lot of budget mumbo-jumbo crap going on right now and basically a huge levy needs to be passed by the voters or we have to cut millions of dollars worth of "stuff" in the district...like one job here in the office (thank God I made this switch to AP from the secretarial position...thank GOD) and among other things, no raise this year. They're encouraging each employee that lives in the voting area to take along four friends to vote yes on the levy. Problem is, a lot of our employees don't live in this town. And I don't vote. But even if I did vote...this is a big tax increase they're asking of the citizens of this town. I can't afford more taxes, I pay enough already! So I would have a hard time voting "yes" to pay more taxes even if it would mean not doing all these budget cuts for the district. Hell I'm even confusing myself right now trying to post about this! It's just a big change from what I'm used to, having to worry about all this stuff now and having politics and the media and such all of a sudden becoming IMPORTANT *gasp!* Basically, since I don't understand it all, I'm going to keep doing my job, keep not voting, and when the time comes I'll do what I'm told when the time comes (this levy's not going to pass...nobody I've talked to is for it). I'm just not so sure I'd ever want to work for a non-profit ever again, if I'm ever in the market for a new job again...