Many, many years ago I cast my first vote ever for a Libertarian Presidential candidate and yesterday I cast what is likely to be my last vote for Libertarians. Even tho I knew most of the people for whom I voted I didn't feel good about casting a ballot. There was no excitement and no sense of fulfillment , only a sense of unease, futility and disgust with the system that my vote was perpetuating. Today I saw the results of that vote, and all the others like it. The Socialist Left has become the dominant force on the American political scene by ousting the Socialist Right and nothing will change in any substantive manner. No libertarians were elected, indeed the votes across the board screamed out for more government and less freedom.For almost 30 years now I have been voting for more freedom, liberty and free markets and in all that time I have seen the opposite grow. We have become less free, our liberties have been violated time and again and the free market is an obscene joke. My vote has been the equivalent of spitting into a volcano in a vain attempt to put it out. That's a realisation that has been building in me for years now and yesterday it came to fruition. I have often said that when the fun aspect of anything goes away then it's time to drop it. There was no fun in what I did yesterday, not even a minute sense of satisfaction. Things became even worse for me as I watched the dismal results trickle in before I retired for the evening.
The people of this country and the state I live in repudiated the Socialist Right and replaced them with their comrades on the Left, hoping for change. They did not vote for freedom or liberty as their engines of change. No. They voted for new masters hoping that by choosing the new one they could, perhaps effect a change in the demeanour of the old master, all the while failing to realise the truth of the matter. All masters are the same.
The election after I cast my first vote had a Socialist Right President and a Socialist Left House and Senate and now we have the same, once again. I no longer see any need to indulge in that particular past time. The deck is stacked against me and anyone else who desires to live in a free country with the barest minimum of state interference. I am surrounded by people who value masters over freedom, who need an iron fist in a velvet glove to goad them into action and to "lead" them. I cannot, in good conscience contribute to that particular system any longer. Better to spend my time trying to educate people than to try and get their votes. Until the battle for hearts and minds is won the ballot box is a lost cause.
So, I'll join those who have taken the decision to withhold their consent to be governed, as well as those who choose to not delegate the initiation of force via the ballot box. Even tho our reasons for not voting may differ we have a lot more common ground than others. They're a fine group of people with a much needed vision; one beyond the futile political chicanery of the ballot box. All in all it's a fitting end to and inglorious career as a voter....
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Libertarian, Voting, Movement of the Libertarian Left
6 comments:
My vote has been the equivalent of spitting into a volcano in a vain attempt to put it out. That's a realisation that has been building in me for years now and yesterday it came to fruition.
One can't vote more freedom into existence; thinking as a free person and doing freedom are the only things I know of that create more freedom.
Welcome to the "dark side".
I'm pretty sure I'm leaving the dark side and heading out into the light, Sunni. Looking at what voting did this election I can be pretty confident that the dark side lies behind the curtains of a voting booth.
T'was a poor attempt at a joke ...
Michael, believe me- I have reasons related to being a candidate that make me feel disgust at the process and at the electorate.
But, we did have two LPIN victories, both at the Township level, in Wayne County. Please take stock in that remembering that nobody starts at CEO.
As much as we have a passion for federal and even statewide issues, the sad apparent fact is that voters will give us a chance at the lowest levels first and only. We need to respond accordingly, even if it isn't as much fun as running for Congress or for statewide office.
I hate to see you go, Michael, but neither will I try to convince you to stay.I have a lot of non-voting cyber-friends over at STR who believe it's the right thing to do.
All I would request is that you stay active in the battle somewhere. As far as I can tell, we already have over 70% of the population that doesn't vote, and I haven't seen the government weakening from that non-support.
The politicians and bureaucrats don't know if you're not voting because you are sick and tired of them, or if you're not voting because you're at home watching American Idol. I really don't think they care either way.
If all of those non-voters would vote for a libertarian, or stop paying their property taxes along with not voting, then I think it might get their attention.
Just keep fighting the fight somewhere, and good luck in you quest for freedom, however you choose to seek it.
I have no intentions of giving up the battle, guys. Not even giving up working with my comrades in the LP. I'm just not going to tender my vote to that process. The LP still has a large battle to wage for the hearts and minds of people. Those who see the end all and be all of the LP as simply an electioneering organisation whose sole purpose is getting people elected are missing the one thing the LP was formed to do. Educating people to the fact that there is another way. Political libertarianism is doomed to failure without the educational and informational aspect. Rex has shown that and so has Mike.
Don't confuse not voting with non-involvement. The two aren't the same.
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