Why I will not be voting today
Well I can certainly say I welcome the arrival of election day. We can now at least get a breather from the non-stop coverage and endless arguing over the personalities of the candidates. I’ve been most discouraged in this election cycle by the utter lack of deep discussion of policy, and laser like focus on email habits or video tapes of crude statements made privately more than a decade ago. Folks, this whole thing is entertainment and nothing more.
The main reason I’m not voting is that it won’t make a bit of difference. We are simply being offered two choices, neither of whom will do anything to increase our individual liberties. Secretary Clinton’s slogan is “Stronger Together”. That sounds nice, and it least it honestly conveys that she’s a big fan of collectivism. However, think about what collectivism means to you as an individual. Choices still must be made in life, and while she says that “society” should make these decisions together, what she really means is that whoever controls the federal government will make them for you. Mr. Trump talks about “making America great again”, but apparently to him that means maintaining high tax rates, ignoring unsustainable and coercive entitlement programs, and throwing up economic walls that subject the American people to higher prices for goods produced domestically. Call me a pessimist, but neither of these people have any inclination towards individual liberty, and most of us will be worse off if their ideas are implemented.
The second reason I’m not voting, even for a third party candidate, is that I refuse to endorse the system at all. After the election, you can bet the winner will come out to tout the millions of Americans who voted with the implication that they now have the legitimacy to implement whatever grand scheme they have in mind. We live under a federal government that controls nearly every aspect of our daily lives. This government tells us how much of our own money we are permitted to keep, how we will consume and pay for medical services, instructs us on the advantages of unlimited 3rd world immigration, goes on endless overseas military adventures, and the list goes on and on. Have you noticed that no matter which party is in control of the federal government; the trajectory is the same? Government grows, and your little circle of liberty gets smaller. By participating in these elections, we allow them to come out to proclaim “The Government is us!”. No, it is not us. The federal government is simply competing factions of various interest groups looking to give benefits to some Americans at the expense of others. The only peaceful protest vote you can make is the one you withhold!
