Although most of my readers will probably get this message after the fact, I am now nonetheless compelled by conscience to post it.
You don't have to vote for President.
If you don't like McCain or Obama--and you know, having read the Constitution, that neither one is philosophically qualified for the job--then you don't have to vote for one of them. You don't have to vote at all.
My friend, BAR, argues that you should in the least vote for someone else (e.g. Bob Barr or Ralph Nader) in order to demonstrate clearly that you vote but will not vote for the republican or democratic candidates.
I see his point.
You might abstain from voting as a form of protest over the absolutely repulsive choice of candidates, but that is not clear to others. You might not have voted simply because you were too lazy to get to the polls or because you figured that your one vote didn't count in the end.
The truth is, however, it's not important what the country thinks of your non-vote. What's important is that you did not support something bad. As Thoreau stated (and I quote it from memory--so it's probably more of a paraphrase) "It is not a man's duty to devote himself to the elimination of evil, but it is his duty to wash his hands of it."
Don't play a part in this farce. Don't vote for president if no man running fulfills the guidelines stated in Article II of the Constitution. (You'll find that both McCain and Obama can be elected constitutionally, but you'll also find--based upon what they've said that they're going to do if elected--that neither will be a constitutional president.
As Thoreau pointed out, the government has no right over you and your property excepting what you concede to it (another paraphrase/quote). If you vote, then you concede.
So I say don't vote for president.
And next time, when a candidate like Ron Paul comes around--a man who knows and respects the Constitution--for God's sakes lend him your support!
How sick is this country that so many laughed at and chided the man who based his platform upon the constitution?
I see your point, Aristos. But every four years the media complains about low voting percentages without considering the quality of the candidates. I don't think they will get it if people just don't vote. A lot of votes for a better, yet imperfect, candidate would be more obvious. The media is stubborn and dense. They need a clear, simple message. If only Mike Clark would have taken the next step beyond complaining about both Obama and McCain to endorsing someone else (Ron Paul, perhaps?)
ReplyDeleteI disagree with your points. Not voting indicates nothing. If you don't vote, you will be a nobody politically. If you vote third party, you'll also be a nobody. We have a two party system, it has always been a two-party system, and it will always be a two-party system. You work to elect libertarian candidates in the two major parties in the primary, but in the general election, you elect the better candidate. If you vote third party or don't vote, you are voting FOR Hitler. Sleep tight at night knowing that. Have fun today! :)
ReplyDeleteI threw up a little this morning when I realized what day it was. I feel these next few years are going to leave me very sick indeed...
ReplyDeleteaconservativeteachers:
ReplyDeleteI would rather be "politically nobody" than "politically somebody" at the price of my conscience.
You kid yourself about the two parties. It's always been this way, huh? How's the Constitutional Union Party do this year? How about them Free-Soilers and Know-Nothings?
We have a two party-dominated system, and that's something very different. Mostly it means that we have two corrupt and evil parties because people have been hoodwinked into believing that it's the only way.
The Constitutional Union Party and the Free-Soilers and Know-Nothings did nothing politically. But they joined with the rements of the Whig Party, created a new major party, and ended slavery, saved our country, and expanded our nation. The question is- are you a member of the Know-Nothings, or a Republican?
ReplyDeleteSo what if you don't like McCain- did you vote for Cliff Taylor, a solid constitutionalist judge? Or against the government investing in aborted baby parts? Or for solid libertarians running as Republicans up and down the ballot?
Aconservativeteacher,
ReplyDeleteYou're echoing monarchist sentiments, although I don't think you realize it. You repudiate the social contract theory if you think that all you can ever be is a useless speck in a massive party that cares nothing for your personal views. Baa! Baa! Smart as a sheep.
aconservativeteacher:
ReplyDeleteYou don't really believe in the republican mythology of the Lincoln era, do you?
The republican party was indeed formed from some fragments of the whig party (pro-tarrifs and government spending), free-soil party (no slavery in the territories), and the American--aka "Know-Nothing"--party (anti-immigrantion). However, its main principles were informed by northern whigs.
Northern whigs were the political descendants of the federalists who passed such odious acts as the Alien and Sedition Acts, advocated big-government style central banking, corporate-welfare in the form of "internal improvements," and an overall loose construction of the Constitution.
It did not save the nation by waging war against the Confederate States of America. It destroyed the Union as it had been formed by the founding fathers. They destroyed the States' Rights theory of government promoted by Jefferson. They made the modern democratic party possible.
My un-identity as a democrat does not make me a de facto republican. My identity as a free man and lover of liberty makes me the natural enemy of both parties.
We have the opportunity to destroy the republican beast and form a new party from its ashes. It's thinking like yours that has made any real party reforms impossible.