We are constantly reminded to “get out and vote.” To “do our duty.” And to “become part of the democratic process.”
These phrases sound so high and mighty, they make me want to puke red, white, and blue. Somebody get me a canvas and call the NEA. There’s gotta be some cash to be made here.
We are badgered to vote, whether or not we know anything about the candidates or whether or not the candidates are essentially the same, by everyone from has-been journalists to the politically-savvy minds at MTV.
Apparently, the right to vote has nothing to do with choice.
Since when did rights and duties become the same thing? Does the freedom of speech mean you don’t have the freedom to shut your trap once in a while? Does the right to private property mean you can’t get rid of that 1974 purple and orange sofa at your in-laws’ next garage sale? And does the right to vote mean you don’t have the right to stay home and cry into your beer rather than play with a bunch of meaningless levers and buttons in a voting booth? Meaningless, that is, when the candidates are tied for first in the “greater of two evils” competition?
Rights are ours to execute or not. A free country with a compulsory vote is a contradiction in terms. Hence, the greater reverence for America’s Founding Fathers over, say, Mark Burnett, the creator of TV’s Survivor. If you want to see what happens to a society that’s forced to vote, watch an episode or two of Survivor.
Not that anyone is actually campaigning for a compulsory vote. Yet. What people are doing, however, is completely negating the opinions of anyone who chooses not to vote. Liberals and conservatives alike will tune out the sound of your voice zealously if you ever let slip a single election abstinence.
The key missing question, of course, is why did you vote or not vote? If your answer is “politics doesn’t interest me”, then of course your opinion on political matters matters not. If, however, you have decided that a vote for any of the candidates is equal to or worse than not voting at all, then your act of abstaining is itself a vote.
For example, in my own state’s gubernatorial election (New Jersey), I have the choice of an anti-abortionist on the one hand, and an enemy of the Second Amendment on the other.
Schundler, the Republican, calls partial-birth abortion “legalized infanticide”. A ban on late-term abortions would be his first step towards destroying a woman’s right to abortion.
McGreevey, the Democrat, supports Lost-in-Space style “smart gun” legislation. Never mind that the technology hasn’t been perfected yet, that millions of older guns can’t be retrofitted, or that the choice of how to defend one’s self and one’s family would be removed and placed in the hands of government.
One candidate worked for Gary Hart’s 1988 Democratic election campaign. This was Schundler, the Republican.
One candidate opposes “new environmental regulations” that would “hurt business” and is a “fierce proponent of free markets”. One supports “increased state funding for the Blue Acres program, which uses public dollars to purchase open space along the coast.” These views are all held by the same person – Schundler, the Republican.
One candidate wants to increase auto insurance regulation (“prevent rate hikes from being considered without consumers having an advocate”), and one wants “increased competition”. These views are also held by one person – McGreevey, the Democrat. One “wants a less restrictive market, but only after additional steps are taken to reduce costs”. This is the Republican.
One candidate wants to be remembered for “making public education work”. The other wants to “reform our public schools so they work to educate children.”
And Praise the Lord. Both promise not to raise taxes.
A vote for one of these candidates is a sanction of his positions. Giving my vote to one candidate as opposed to the other says “I believe that you are better than the other guy.”
But I don’t.
I propose that the citizens of the United States be given the same privilege as our leaders. Give us an “I abstain” button in the voting booth. Give us the ability to show our leaders that we are not abstaining out of apathy.
Let our abstinence be shown for what it is meant to be. A vote of conscience.
