Everyone who didn't vote, did the right thing. Please continue and thanks again
On Nov 5, 12:40 pm, MJ <[email protected]> wrote: > It's Okay That You're Not Voting TodayJohn Carney| Nov. 3, 2009, 8:03 AM > The odds are that you did not vote today. > If you are anything like us, not voting is a triumph of sense over > propaganda. We've received a bunch of emails from friends and concerned > citizens urging us to vote this way or that, for one politician or his > doppelganger. Some have even implored us to vote regardless of which > candidate we favor, out of some sense of civic duty. > Yet we didn't vote. And neither did most of you. > We all know that voting is irrational. The odds of influencing the outcome of > an election are vanishingly small. You are better off being a free-rider on > the votes of others. What's more, the odds that a candidate for whom you vote > will successfully carry out policies that match your preferences are even > worse. For many of the offices to which men and women will be elected today, > you do not actually have any preferences at all. > Voting can also be counter-productive, which is what makes those campaigns > urging people to vote so destructive. If you are only so slightly informed > about an election that you need to be convinced to vote, your preferences are > likely to be ill-informed. You'll vote according to heuristics--ethnicity, > party lines, for familiar names--that political operatives can predict and > exploit. We're probably all better off if we leave the voting to the informed > and committed. > Then again, informed voting may be over-rated. Knowing a lot about a > candidate's positions and current social problems may not make you very good > at choosing between candidates. Campaign promises are not a good guide to > political performance--they are forward looking statements, after all. And > often 'informed voters' are simply committed ideologues. It's not clear that > more informed voting produces qualitatively improved governance. > Voting is probably the least effective way to make your political preferences > influence elections. You'd do far more with a bumper sticker, a chat with a > neighbor or a bar-side argument over politics. So if you do have strong > preferences, by election day it's already too late. The uninformed mass of > voters and the ideologically committed have already made up their minds. You > are already irrelevant. > Some democratic fanatics will tell you that if you don't vote then you give > up your right to dissent against subsequent government policies. I've never > understood this weird part of pseudo-democratic theory. It certainly isn't > part of the constitution of the United States, which preserves the rights of > free speech, free press and petitioning the government even for non-voters. > If anything, the opposite should be true: by voting you are tacitly agreeing > to abide by the outcome of the vote. By not voting, you are doing not such > thing. > We don't think voting is awful. After all, it isn't as if you are voluntarily > participating in the inevitable exploitation of the people by the government > in favor of the well connected. You have not choice but to participate. The > coercive elements of a government captured by special interests are present > all around you, conscripting the fruits of your labor for their > ends--propping up fallen banks, engaging in foreign wars, sponsoring the > destruction of your culture, and pure self-dealing by politicians. It's easy > to see why you might want to play some small role in protecting your life, > your fortune and whatever is left of your honor from this kind of situation. > There are also plenty of non-political reasons to vote. If you are lonely or > elderly, voting might be a good chance to meet people. Lots of other people > like you will be gathered in one place. You already have something in > common--you like to vote. Odds are that this is a signal of all sorts of > other beliefs about life that you also share with your fellow voters. Often > there is also free coffee at voting places. > Just don't let anyone make you feel bad about not voting. The insistence that > you have given up some sacred right or failed to performed a civic duty is > the clearest sign of someone who either doesn't really understand politics at > all or was trying to manipulate you. Feel free to encourage them in this > disordered thinking by telling them that you would have voted if only they > had reminded you earlier that it was election day. It will drive them a bit > crazy to hear that if only they had worked harder at getting out the vote, > you might have voted. And witnessing the irrationality and mistakes of others > is one of the fine pleasures of election day. > Read > more:http://www.businessinsider.com/its-okay-that-you-didnt-vote-today-2009-11#ixzz14QWUBhIjhttp://read.bi/aH9Ywe -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more.
