Why does anyone vote? Seriously. I'm not sure that most people sit themselves down and really know why they are voting. If you ask, I'll bet that you'll get some form of the answer "It's my duty" or "It's my right", or perhaps "I never vote- it's rigged anyway." This is a dodge- merely exercising one's liberty is not a reasonable excuse when there are potentially sobering consequences as a result. For instance, I could go horseback riding on an untrained horse, after omitting to the handler that I have insufficient experience to control such a horse, merely because it's my right. Or, I could buy the horse, and owning it, I could do whatever I wanted with it, even and including getting trampled into a red pulpy welcome mat. Arbitrary exercise of liberty inherently comes at the cost of inattention to consequence. So why vote? It's clear to me that no one should vote without a compelling reason as to why they should allow themselves to do it. Further, having a good reason or rationalization, one should only vote based on their analysis of the issues at hand. Yes, that means researching.
The following is a list of voting motivations that should cause self-disqualification:
1) Voting for "someone like me"
2) Voting for "the one I like"
3) Voting for "the one my neighbor/boss/wife likes"
4) Voting against anyone
5) Voting for "the one that will give me stuff/money"
6) Voting for "the one that will finally give so and so what they deserve"
7) Voting "the same way as last time"
In Political Science 101, they teach that there is no real reason why a person should vote, as their effect is statistically insignificant- in the same way that a single pledge to NPR can't really effect the outcome of a pledge drive. Why not just coast through and let the other chumps foot the bill while you listen in for free? They tell you in that class that "Duty" makes up the difference, but this is crap. When did anyone feel the duty to study and understand the activity of the government instead of just browsing the news and cheerleading for "their side"? Duty is dead- most people just want to be on the winning team. Those people should not vote.
There is a historical analogy to this thesis. The Puritans in Massachusetts Colony were very strict in the practice of religion, and controlled and restricted it using the state. If a member of a church wanted to take Communion (also called The Eucharist-- a thing done every week in many modern churches), that person had to APPLY to do it. This is a thing that is said to be given explicitly from God to the People for their use and salvation, but the church elders exerted gatekeeping authority over it. The applicants were interviewed extensively, in a process almost like a judicial confirmation hearing. Why? To make sure the applicant was sufficiently spiritually ready to eat the body and blood of God. A person might do this a handful of times in their life. The colony, set up as a sanctuary for religious refugees, took this ceremony so seriously as to require individuals to prove that they were absolutely committed to it.
Our country is not, exactly, a theocracy. We are certainly not governed by the religiously pious, and commanded to pray this or that way. We do not have morality squads. We do not have honor killings. However, the reverence in this country for the "Founding Fathers" and The Constitution in its original and current forms is almost one of religious devotion, which lends some aptitude to the analogy between modern politics and the Massachusetts theocracy of the 17th century. If one really loves the concept of Liberty and the Constitution that serves to enshrine and defend it, shouldn't one then really mentally and (gasp) spiritually prepare oneself to exercise their power over it? Shouldn't we be concerned with the unintended consequences of that exercise, especially if in apparently acting in selfless "Duty" we are contributing to the abrogation, restriction, or confiscation of another's Life, Liberty, or Property?
Please, consider not voting. I'm not urging anyone not to vote-- but merely to authentically consider passing it up. Only when you are willing to not vote, will you really know why you really are casting that ballot in November.
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2 comments:
Ok. I've been trying to think how to respond to this all day. I will quote "Having our Say: The Delany Sisters First 100 Years."
"It's true you can't change the world with just one vote, but when you don't vote you give up your right to complain."
Ah, rights. This is what it's all about: Liberty. If someone told you that you weren't allowed to complain, wouldn't you just tell them to stuff it? I think that if a person willingly passed up an opportunity to vote when they actually had an opinion on the election, they might have more to contribute to a conversation rather than less. Think of Thoreau choosing to not pay taxes to protest a war: it was illegal, but what he had to say about it (while rotting in jail) was probably worth hearing. I don't mean his point about the war (he was probably too far out on that and martyr-ish), but the actual refusal to pay taxes and the rotting in jail part of things.
I guess I mean to say, maybe you could lie and say you voted, and still abstain. It's not about what anyone else thinks, but what you think about yourself and your role in using your power as a citizen.
Also, voting doesn't directly influence the process of government. Complaining can. If you harass your representatives or band neighbors together with pitchforks and torches, you stand a chance of being heeded. Hence my senatorial drunk dial (which appears to have had no effect- I got an anti-abortion form response from one senator, and some nonsense otherwise).
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