In one of my favorite stand-up bits, George Carlin expounds on the reasons why he does not vote. It is a unique perspective besides the, “I didn’t like any of the candidates.” In his crude and honest way he gave more than just that answer when no one could give one quite like that. Today we come to the midterm elections in the United States with groups and Facebook statuses claiming that we have no right to complain if we don’t vote. My father likes to tell me that sometimes you have to pick the lesser of two evils. That begs the question then of, “Well isn’t that still voting for evil?”
Personally, I feel strongly that consciously not voting is just as meaningful as those that “throw away” their votes for one of the two major parties. As Carlin put, “shit in and shit out.”, and it’s quite true to me. Lord Acton states, “Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely”. Do we have absolute power in the United States government? No, but it certainly is a hell of a lot more powerful than what it was ever meant to be. And as Carlin put, each rotation of politicians for the most part is just part of the same system of shit that leads to pork barrel spending, lobbyists and broken promises; not always broken promises on their account but because of the ruling majority in the House and Senate. Either way, as long as the same parties consistently hold ground then why truly waste a vote?
The other problem with voting, especially this year, stem from narrowed views on political problems. In the state of Texas for instance we have a major race between Wendy Davis and Greg Abbott. Do you want to know what I know about these two candidates? Well, I know that Davis is pro-choice and thus pro-women while Abbott is pro-life and therefore anti-women. Which brings up how shitty our system is that because you believe one thing you’re automatically hating on another group. Anyways, what else can I tell you about these two? Enough, because I read their platforms but for the every day voter I have a sneaking suspicion that the abortion debate is the extent of their understanding (A few friends on Facebook have proven this to me). So why are you voting then?!
Let me explain, there are four types of people in the United States when it comes to politics: Informed voters, uninformed voters, apathetic abstainers and informed abstainers. Informed voters have researched the candidates and understand who they’re voting for whether Republican, Democrat, Libertarian or whatever. Uninformed voters are those that look at one aspect and vote. Examples are the people who say vote for Wendy because she’s pro-women or those who say vote Abbott because he cares about babies or a lot of people who voted because Obama was black or promised universal healthcare (the last has been a huge kick in the teeth for these voters). Apathetic abstainers are the ones who either don’t care or don’t think anyone cares about them so why vote or even pay attention. Informed abstainers have researched the candidates and decided that they can’t vote for any of them or because they don’t believe in voting for the lesser of two evils.
Now, I have been told repeatedly that I have no right to complain if I do not vote. The problem with this logic can be found here in a very crass way by the late, great George Carlin:
Why are we so concerned with people complaining? If we’re going to follow this logic then the only people who have no right to complain after election day are apathetic abstainers and uninformed voters. Then again, this goes down to a Freedom of Speech idea because how dare you say that people can’t complain if they don’t vote. They’re exercising their right by not voting! Everyone has the right to complain and to be angry whether they voted or not. Voting is one of the most fundamental rights we have so why should I take that lightly and vote for people that I don’t identify with? It’s all well and good but did anyone notice the articles about the celebrities from Rock the Vote who didn’t, um, well, rock the vote?
I’m sorry to break it to you but you can waste your vote if you vote. Want to know what’s better than voting? Being involved, actually researching candidates not sound bites, and actually making a difference. I’d rather live in a country where people are actively involved in their government and not voting than what we do now where we get excited around election time and care about things, but then the rest of the time we complain and aren’t involved. Don’t tell me I can’t complain and don’t tell me I’m not informed because I’m not voting, that’s the biggest lie you’ve been sold.
I’ll leave you with this: “There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root.” – Thoreau
For the Rest of Us... 