Fuck your politics, fuck your candidates, and fuck voting.

As we near the hallowed time where all good men and women of this country vote, it's worth reconsidering the voting process. Voting has become one of the strangest traditions in the United States. On the one hand, politicians are looked upon in this country almost universally as total scum, as Pyotr Kropotkin pointed out long ago. Well, not much has changed. But at the same time, people still take voting as something very, very serious. I've often heard that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and over again and expecting different results. If that's really the case, then voting may very well be the most insane institution in the country.

Voting is a big deal in the United States. People take it terribly seriously. Saying that you don't vote will get you shocked looks; it's often the equivalent of proclaiming that you hate Jesus. Because, you see, not only are we granted this self-indulgent privilege, but people died for us to have it! How can you be so selfish!

Well, I suppose I am selfish. But at least I'm not delusional.

The myth of the so-called "rational voter" is a pretty widespread one. Candidates mount platforms, give speeches, throw fundraisers, and do their little dance for the American people, all while spewing feel-good platitudes about freedom, the American way of life, God (that one is essential-you must be best buddies with Jesus if you are to get anywhere close to the throne of power), and how America is the greatest country in the world. They try desperately to appear like they have the answers: I KNOW what the economy needs! Or they can try a different tactic-fear. This one is just as, if not more, effective than giving Americans the proverbial "stroke". Fear tactics range from, "We have to stop the homos from gettin' married", to "the terrorists want to come over here and take away our freedom", and everything in between. Many times it's used as a wedge, to divide one part of the country from the other. For all the nonsense about being "nonpartisan" and "reaching across the aisle", politics exists solely as a function of people disagreeing, and is by nature divisive.

Ultimately, though, few people are rational voters. Irrational voters range from people who are shameless partisan hacks and love to tow the party line, to people who only vote on one issue, to people who vote for what they feel will benefit the country, but in reality lacks any sort of empirical evidence of any kind to support said assumption. I won't even go into the media's role in all this, as they are to easy of a target.

My personal reasons from "voting abstinence" are numerous, but there are two major points: 1) States, like corporations, exist to perpetuate the so-called "bottom line". In this case, the bottom line is to obtain power, and to perpetuate power. This is why I chuckle at people like Ron Paul. Deny this and you ignore history at your own peril. 2) About half of the eligible voters in the U.S. actually vote. Out of this 50%, usually about half of the half vote for their respective parties. This means that around 26% of the country is imposing their views on the other 74%. I find this repulsive, and it contradicts everything I believe in. I try to practice what I preach, and I preach the holy message from my ideology, leave-me-the-hell-alone-ism.

Now, am I saying that voting in all cases is unacceptable? No, I'm not. I'm perfectly reasonable about voting for improvement on the local level. I'm even open to the theory that voting can be used as a mechanism of self-defense by an oppressed class. But voting for president is a great folly, is totally pointless in my opinion, and is the equivalent of flipping pennies into a wishing well. A whole mystical aura has developed around the voting box, an irrational cult around an object not unlike the Old Testament idols. And I find it repugnant. I will end this polemic with two quotes.

Voting is "merely a labor-saving device for ascertaining on which side force lies and bowing to the inevitable... It is neither more nor less than a paper representative of the bayonet, the bully, and the bullet." - Benjamin Tucker

Democracy is only a dream: it should be put in the same category as Arcadia, Santa Claus, and Heaven. - H.L. Mencken

and finally,

The Fathers who invented it [democracy], if they could return from Hell, would never recognize it. It was conceived as a free government of free men; it has become simply a battle of charlatans for the votes of idiots - H.L. Mencken

Vote, citizen, and be part of the problem!

EDIT: I just noticed this on LRC. It seems to be from a member of the High Cult of Ron Paul. Anyway, it's brief and worth reading, and presents a different opinion: http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig4/maccallum3.html