I Don’t Vote, Not Even for Ron Paul
In a previous post, I mentioned that I didn’t vote for Ron Paul in the election. A few people expressed surprise in the comments. So I should clarify that I didn’t vote for RP, because I don’t vote (in political elections), period. My reasoning is pretty simple: My vote won’t make a difference in any remotely plausible scenario, and so there’s no reason to vote as a “pragmatic” measure. (It might be justified to torture a guy who has planted a hidden bomb, but it’s definitely NOT justified to torture a guy who had nothing to do with planting a hidden bomb just because you’re worried.)
And to the obvious retort, “What if everyone acted like you?” I respond: That would be awesome. I hope everyone does. That’s why I spend so much time writing, after all, to get people to see why our current system is insane and evil. If only the candidates’ moms voted in the next presidential election, the welfare-warfare state would collapse pretty quickly.
Here’s an article on voting that I wrote after attending my brother-in-law’s high school graduation and listening to the motivational speaker tell the kids to help their country by always voting. Really, if you actually analyze the arguments for voting, you’ll see they’re shockingly bad.
