Thursday, June 19, 2008

The Right to Vote, Civic Duty or a Waste of Time

We have learned from childhood that voting is not only a hard won privilege, but a civic duty, an obligation that we must perform or else.

Eyebrows rise and people snort when I tell them that I have voted twice in my life and probably never will again.

The first time was for JFK because I had just turned 21 and was properly brainwashed to believe it was my duty and also because he was a Catholic which seemed important at that time.

It didn't take me long to realize that both reasons were pretty dumb. Furthermore, the more I delved into politics and public affairs, the more obvious it became that it made little difference who won. They all said what they had to, to get elected and did what they had to, to stay elected and the latter rarely coincided with what I had in mind.

In spite of the fact that I am pretty much of a news junkie and follow politics rigorously, I simply did not bother to vote again until Ross Perot came along. Finally, a man who seemed to have the courage of his convictions not to mention the money to do it on his own, if necessary.

Well, the media did what it usually does to third party candidates and treated him like a leper to the extent that they even refused to run his self-funded ads.

He lost and so , I think, did the country but this just hardened my conviction that voting is a waste of time.

So what happens if nobody votes? I sneak in at the last minute and vote for myself. Or better yet, no one gets elected so no one can raise our taxes.

AND THOSE ARE THE THOUGHTS OF K9ACT

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8 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Jack,

When you were young and voted for JFK your head WAS in the right place. Recapture that feeling from your youth.

Ross was/is a nutcase. He got in and spoiled then-incumbent President George H.W. Bush's chance for re-election in a personal vendatta. Bill Clinton won the election with 43% of the popular vote. Problems were compounded.

FWIW I vote in an independent fashion. I consider the two major parties to be racketeering influenced corrupt organizations that should be dealt with as such.

You are quite correct. These guys say what they have to say to get elected and once in, do what they want or feel they can get away with.

This doesn't mean we should give up on expecting a smaller government to function more efficiently. One of our biggest problems is apathy. Have a little idealism there Jack!

Our nation has been run by old school politicians my entire life. In that time we've let our wealth-creating manufacturing & materials industries go straight down the drain. The service economy tends to concentrate wealth so then politicians feel they must legislate income redistribution.

I seriously doubt if McCain or Obama ever held a real job where they actually had to do something productive (in an economic sense). They are clueless and regardless of which one is elected, their Presidency will be a difficult one.

I'm all for turning the reins of Presidential power over to a woman, an African-American, or even a native-born Austrian for that matter!

We've had decades of predictable action from conventional politicians and the unholy mess we have today is the result. Enough already.

73

KA3TGV

June 21, 2008 at 4:37 AM  
Blogger Jack said...

Thanks for your thoughts, nice to know it works.

> When you were young and voted for JFK your head WAS in the right place. Recapture that feeling from your youth.

That could be pretty scary.

> Ross was/is a nutcase.

Could be but he was my kind of nutcase.

>He got in and spoiled then-incumbent President George H.W. Bush's chance for re-election in a personal vendatta. Bill Clinton won the election with 43% of the popular vote. Problems were
compounded.

That is always an argument against a third party. The other is that it is wasting one's vote. To me, it is at least a bit better that the "lesser of two evils" argument for voting for someone you don't really like.

> FWIW I vote in an independent fashion. I consider the two major parties to be racketeering influenced corrupt organizations that should be dealt with as such.

By voting for one of them? I would accept that argument if a negative vote could be counted.

> Have a little idealism there Jack!

Too old for that. It is indirectly proportonial to age.

> I seriously doubt if McCain or Obama ever held a real job...

You can count the polititians on one hand who have.

Term limits is the answer but the foxes are running the chicken coop.

Thanks for your thoughts,

js

June 21, 2008 at 8:20 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Doing the right thing because it is right is good enough for me. There is no such thing as wasting a vote--even if your vote loses.
A clear conscience is worth more than any amount of power, wealth or prestige.
Skip

June 26, 2008 at 7:06 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

So he has opted out? Please ask him to shut the door on the way out.
Wonder where in the world a non participator, such as that, can fit in?
Must be very frustrating to have so many decisions made for one; with no imclination or attempt to contribute or influence them?

June 28, 2008 at 6:08 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Indeed it is frustrating to have no control over what the government does. At least by not voting I do not encourage anyone to think that I support them as in the"better of two evils".

Sorry, a waste of energy.

js

June 28, 2008 at 8:54 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Everyone has right to vote.It doesn't matter whether it's loses or not.
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October 20, 2008 at 5:54 PM  
Blogger Norman P. Triantafilos said...

Hey Jack this is Norm/Kb9ygd and i have never ever voted and never will as we have discused b-4 they are all crooks and should all be hung long ago but the hard call is who gos 1st... the polititions or the lawyers?
73,N

February 8, 2009 at 4:00 PM  
Anonymous Thanh said...

Gorgeous!

September 3, 2013 at 7:45 PM  

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