Comments on: Why I Won’t Vote (Part One)

By: Why I Vote (in plenum) « Philosophy On The Mesa

Why I Vote (in plenum) « Philosophy On The Mesa — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 00:08:44 +0000

[...] trackback Josef has an interesting (albeit dispersed) argument for why he doesn’t vote. (Here, here, and here) I agree with (most of) his premises but come to a different [...]

By: philagon

philagon — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 15:22:48 +0000

Via non-interference I encourage everyone who is not voting to continue to do so. Not only will it make the pool of actual voters more powerful because there are less of them, but there in no virtue in voting per se. I have never understood voter registration drives as a type of obligation: convincing the ignorant, apathetic and uninformed to vote! It would be outrageous to ask anyone to make a joint decision with us in a vote whom we would not trust to watch our kids or be satisfied that they could appreciate the nuances of a philosophical argument.

By: Political Base

Political Base — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 13:22:41 +0000

[...] Why I Won’t Vote (Part One) [...]

By: Cyrus Ghahremani

Cyrus Ghahremani — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 10:48:28 +0000

Entertaining, but perhaps a more fitting quote is, “Bad politicians are sent to Washington by good people who don’t vote.”

While I do not question the ethic of a non-voter (and there are certainly more of them this time around, jaded from the 2004 upset), I can’t agree with their decision – particularly with the system as broken as it is now.

I still believe that your vote is your voice…if your opinions are ratified, you have cause for celebration; if they are not, only then may you complain. Leaving yourself out of this decision-making process, regardless of how trite and tired it is now, selfishly increases the margin of misrepresentation that allows unfit candidates to take the office.

You have backed your opinion with strong words from strong minds, yet I find it impossible to believe that the non-voter’s motive is anything but apathy or anarchy. (Other beliefs – rigged elections, New World Order, etc are better fit for the Conspiracy On The Mesa blog.)

Despite your intention, I still feel you have not even begun to justify your decision – at least factually.

Looking forward to Part Two.

By: Moriae

Moriae — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 05:25:16 +0000

As Twain mentioned: “If the vote made any difference, they wouldn’t let us do it.”