Casting My Whole Vote
Oct 26th, 2008 by Kirsten
I heartily accept the motto, — “That government is best which governs least”; and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which also I believe, — “That government is best which governs not at all”; and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have.
-Henry David Thoreau, On Civil Disobedience
Yesterday I drove through Anaconda, MT right past a building labeled Ancient Order of Hibernians. What the hell is that? I had to look it up when I got home. As weird shit like this often does to me, I was overcome with a warm feeling of love for my country. Honestly, I just plain love America. I would probably feel that way about other places if I spent as much time driving around them, but so far pretty much all my experience is limited to here.
I felt this way
- driving through Texas when I saw a giant cross looming on the horizon,
- driving through Vermont when we found a little, out-of-the-way coffee place at just the right time to catch their first batch,
- driving through Minnesota when we happened upon an unlikely outdoor movie theater in the middle of a corn field out in farm country,
- driving through northern Arizona when I saw a Snoopy sitting on a missile at Wikiup, etc…
Such are the gifts of taking to the road instead of taking to the skies. There is no shortage of these incredible surprises by our roads and highways. In spite of the highly accelerated post-September 11 trashing of freedom in this country, I still get to see our quirks, our creativity, our humor, our individuality shining through here and there and this country is still beautiful to me.
That feeling was immediately followed by a mental caveat: I love this country, but I hate its government.
If it is alive, government wants to kill it. If it is valuable, government wants to steal it. If it is beautiful, unique, or quirky, government wants to standardize, regulate or get rid of it. If it is interesting, risky or in any way not already completely safe and benign, government wants to dumb it down to manageable and predictable levels.
And no, putting your favorite idiots in charge will not fix it. Even putting smart people or caring people in charge will not fix it.
Next month, I will have the great joy of seeing some of that beauty live when I attend some concerts. I already know that one of the artists I will be seeing will exhort us (his audiences) to please vote. He won’t tell us who to vote for, but we should vote in this election no matter who we choose.
I cannot understand that sort of thinking. For one thing, is it better for me to vote for an evil tyrant or not vote at all? Seriously. Those are the choices as best I can tell. For another thing, if it doesn’t matter who I vote for, then why does it matter that I vote at all except to prop up a system which I vehemently oppose? I love the music, but the political philosophy seems a bit weak to me. I hope he has some time on the tour bus to give this subject some more thought.
After a good discussion recently, it has become clear to me that not voting in and of itself is not necessarily a sufficiently clear message that I have no faith in and no respect for the system. Therefore, I am spelling out my message explicitly right here.
I will not vote in this election.
I will not participate in this distraction and sham, and neither laziness nor apathy is among my reasons behind my choice.
I think most of the possible voting choices are unethical. Specifically, I believe it is unethical to vote to place another human being in a position of power over a peaceful person who cannot opt out of that system if there is a reasonably realistic chance your choice might prevail. I believe it is unethical to vote to steal a peaceful person’s property- be that theft in the form of taxation, eminent domain, zoning, gun control, the drug war, fines or penalties for victimless activities, or any of a bazillion other activities I could list. I believe it is unethical to vote to take away any peaceful choice a person could make- be that choice to carry arms either openly or concealed in public, to fuck bicycle parts, to wear clothing with distasteful graphics, to speak, publish or read offensive material, or again any of a bazillion other things that do not violate anyone else’s right to their own equally individual choices.
It is a very specific strategic choice for me not to vote. The system we have- no matter who is in charge- is fundamentally flawed and needs to be supplanted by individual freedom as soon as possible. It is predicated on the flawed notion that some men may dictate the details of the lives others. It is my desire to see such a system widely regarded as a joke.
I want holding a government job to be considered an embarassment by most people. I want the idea that we should obey arbitrarily meaninglessly selected other people to seem ludicrous to us all. Like ridiculous anti-cohabitation laws that are still on the books but virtually never enforced, I would be satisfied to see all the powers of government fade to unnoticeable levels. That’s just about as good as an official collapse in my book.
I do not believe that participating in the process is a good way to bring that about. I believe that the system will seem much more ridiculous when only a fraction of a percent of eligible adults bother to waddle their way into voting booths and peck away at their ballots than when even 40-50% do so. I believe that when people stop looking to the system to solve their problems, we will rediscover the powers within ourselves to solve our problems through voluntary cooperation and free individual choices. And I believe that when people stop viewing activism as a vote-centered activity, more of us will put into practice the recommendation of Henry David Thoreau:
All voting is a sort of gaming, like checkers or backgammon, with a slight moral tinge to it, a playing with right and wrong, with moral questions; and betting naturally accompanies it. The character of the voters is not staked. I cast my vote, perchance, as I think right; but I am not vitally concerned that that right should prevail. I am willing to leave it to the majority. Its obligation, therefore, never exceeds that of expediency. Even voting for the right is doing nothing for it. It is only expressing to men feebly your desire that it should prevail. A wise man will not leave the right to the mercy of chance, nor wish it to prevail through the power of the majority. There is but little virtue in the action of masses of men.
Cast your whole vote, not a strip of paper merely, but your whole influence. A minority is powerless while it conforms to the majority; it is not even a minority then; but it is irresistible when it clogs by its whole weight.
-Henry David Thoreau, On Civil Disobedience
Straight from my heart … and much more clearly said than I ever could. Thank you so much.
“Don’t vote” early and often!
I have already “not voted”.
What they said. What you said. Wish I’d said it so eloquently.
Well ranted, as usual.
Hi Kirsten, I appreciate your honesty. Maybe it’s time for a new revolution as Jefferson advised.
If you think the Ancient Order of Hibernians is an interesting comment on American B/being, take a stroll through the Anaconda cemetary and check out the monument to the “Order of Red Men” (see pic at http://ecorover.blogspot.com/2007/08/anaconda-montana-order-of-red-men-and.html )!
Listen to the Alex Jones interview with Alan Watt. Among other things they talk about how the elections are a sham. It is a free MP3 download at http://drop.io/Summerbird That particular interview is about the seventh file down from the top.
Wandered by to find this: -
“If it is valuable, government wants to steal it. If it is beautiful, unique, or quirky, government wants to standardize, regulate or get rid of it. If it is interesting, risky or in any way not already completely safe and benign, government wants to dumb it down to manageable and predictable levels.
And no, putting your favorite idiots in charge will not fix it. Even putting smart people or caring people in charge will not fix it”.
Fantastic !! Great stuff, I love it - and I may well ‘nick’ it too!!
Bravo, Kirstin!! I’ve been trying to say this for many years, but don’t have your gift. Thank you for saying it for all of us. I’ll be posting a link to this on my website - and I’m not going to wait for the next issue.
Kirstin,
If there are no other choices on your ballot other than the “big two,” then I wholeheartedly agree with you. If there are Libertarians, you really should take the time to vote for them. Any Libertarian who is elected would work to make the government pretty much the way you hope it would be (as you described above). Sure, the other guys say that Libertarians never win. That’s because they stack the deck against us quite often, marginalizing the LP, restricting ballot access, excluding us from debates, etc. It’s quite an uphill battle. If we could get the people who are disgusted with voting for the same two losers (like you) to vote LP instead, I strongly believe our beautiful country would be a better place. Respectfully yours…..SS
This is really splendid, and thanks for taking the time to make it happen. Quoted for truth on my site.
Wow. Thank you for this. I can’t imagine this being said any better.
Help me out here, Sam. You seem to be under the impression that putting “the right people” in charge will fix the system. I disagree. I contend that the system is itself fatally flawed. Let us take a look at what happens when your “right people” are in charge.
I previously lived in a state where one of the local Libertarian Party members (Scott Stewart, Pima County) won an election and took office (Pima County Community College Board). Once in office, he voted to increase property taxes. When he was called out on this by a local alternative weekly paper, another PCLP official wrote in his defense!
Summary: an LP candidate was elected and unethically voted to raise taxes, and another LP official defended his unethical behavior. But how could this happen? He was and is a “Libertarian,” and you said voting for LP candidates would do just the opposite. How can you explain this without acknowledging a flaw in the system itself?
How is it ethical to put someone- even an LP member- into power over people who have no way to opt out of their legal coercion? How does voting for a Libertarian send the message, “NOBODY is more qualified and has no more right to live my life than I.”?
These are serious questions that I would like you to address.
Respectfully,
Kirsten
Amen, sister.
I just found your artical. Thank you for making me feel better. I have decided not to vote. I for one feel that the winner has already been chosen. I love my country also. However, where has our freedom gone? America is the most beautiful country in the world. Now they want to take it away from us . Thank you again
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