Interesting. I decide to set up a group devoted to stealing from you and making you wear silly hats and such, and allow elections to decide who runs the system, and thereby create an obligation (moral or legal?) for you to participate?
I even wouldn’t vote against Hitler either. Worth reading: http://www.voluntaryist.com/articles/085b.php
Comrade, you ask some troubling questions!
So you are saying that your property is our property? Nice. Do we own a Ferrari?
Exactly where did I say it was an obligation?
I said it was a grave injustice that people don’t vote. Yes, if you put a gun to my head and say “i;m going to make you wear silly hats” I would rather you allow me council to decide what silly hats than not.
Better yet, don’t put guns to people’s heads, I know I’m faster than a pellut gun, and I’m willing to take the chance with a real one. Keep the gun a few feet away.
You’re very casual with how you use different phrases, perhaps because you’re more used to communicating through rhetoric than erudition.
An injustice against whom?
against themselves
That response wasn’t addressed to you, it was addressed to the guy who said “voting is an obligation.”
By what standard?
Jalan; my apologies
LS: I said in my original statement that it is only true by me for me. If you choose not to believe it, that’s your choice.
Yes, we have had that problem here in Ohio as well. I feel it is a travesty that should not be allowed. Don’t get me wrong, there are valid criticisms of democracy. But we live in one (sort of), and I feel (as a subjective belief) that we should take advantage of that.
I was mistaken, it wasn’t my first post. It was here.
I would add that people don’t understand the issues and don’t know how they should vote. That is how I was before I discovered libertarianism. Now I don’t vote because I think it is pointless.
I think people on this site choose not to vote because they think it lends legitimacy to a system they see as being illegitimate.
I also think there are certainly people who are indifferent to elections, but I’ve honestly never met anyone who didn’t have an opinion (no matter how half formed) about politics.
Personally, one of the benefits of not voting is that it leads to a better conversation when I am asked why I didn’t vote than otherwise.
Do you know where this interview is? I’ve been searching for it on YouTube but can’t seem to find it.
I would say more people don’t vote because they are poorly-informed and don’t care. Most people think government is legitimate, and this probably won’t change anytime soon.
Here’s my theory about why voting is good:
Nowadays, most laws passed by the American government have negative effects on the common citizenry. Rather than complain that the system is “broken” and encourage “reaching across the aisle,” let’s acknowledge that the system is working just the way a liberal democracy should, and that all the innefficiency is a good thing. Come election time, politicians must try to earn a majority of votes by promising to benefit some people at the expense of others. Then, when they get elected, there is constant pressure to deliver for all the special groups. This generates a never-ending stream of haggling whenever a law is proposed. Unless all the necessary back-room deals are made, some politicians will block the legislation in the name of their special groups. As a result, fewer laws get passed and the government grows more slowly. Also, since the government constantly has to redistribute money to please voting blocs, it has fewer resources left over for more direct increases in power.
So come November, I plan to vote in an effort to preserve my freedom. And since millions of others will join me, we’ll probably have a bunch of new Republicans who will split Congress, making it nearly impossible for any major legislation to be passed in the next two years.
what you mean?
I’ll just quote this for truth. Thanks for understanding.
RNVAn,
I see from your Bio that you enjoy reading books about conservatism. I was an extremely opinionated conservative until the end of the W. Bush Presidency and the collapse of the economy on Sept. 15th, 2008. Now, non-interventionism is the only thing that makes sense to me.
As for voting, I used to feel exactly the same way you do. But then my eyes were opened. Sept. '08 was like a whiff of smelling salt to someone with a concussion.
Why on Earth would I willingly “select” someone who wants to intervene in the economy and foreign policy? What difference does it make if it’s an R or a D?