{"id":4713,"date":"2009-06-28T00:12:19","date_gmt":"2009-06-28T06:12:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/oooorgle.com\/wordpress\/?p=4713"},"modified":"2015-05-24T09:16:41","modified_gmt":"2015-05-24T16:16:41","slug":"i-dont-and-wont-vote-heres-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oooorgle.com\/BeyondTheCorral\/i-dont-and-wont-vote-heres-why\/","title":{"rendered":"I Don’t and Won’t Vote: Here’s Why"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Strike-The-Root.com<\/a> | \u201cAll right, here it is: I hereby unilaterally declare forever and hereafter that I will never use physical violence, fraud, or deception in order to control the life or property of anyone in this room. Is that clear?\u201d <\/p>\n

There were eight other people in the room, one of whom was the professor. Everyone nodded assent. So far so good. <\/p>\n

\u201cOkay. Now, is there anyone here who does not agree to extend the same treatment and philosophy towards myself?\u201d <\/p>\n

The professor asked for some clarification, and made clear his belief that he felt hurting someone\u2019s feelings, even by proxy, might constitute aggression. I tried assuring him that this wasn\u2019t so, but that started eating up a lot of time. In the end, he abstained from answering either Yes or No. No one else objected in any way to what I\u2019d said. <\/p>\n

\u201cWell, all right. Now, let me see a show of hands \u2013 how many of you are voters?\u201d <\/p>\n

To my shock, everyone raised a hand \u2013 except me, of course. <\/p>\n

\u201cWow,\u201d I said, genuinely stunned. \u201cWell, my next question to all of you then is, when are you going to stop voting?\u201d <\/p>\n

Blank stares, and mostly grim ones at that. One fellow said, in a harsh, defiant tone, \u201cNever!\u201d I asked if everyone understood my position, and what I was getting at; to wit, that voting isn\u2019t theft and murder in and of itself, but that it\u2019s precisely like hiring a hit man to do the same things for you. Someone then said, \u201cYes, but not intentionally.\u201d I tried responding, but things started to erupt from there, and I never got the chance. <\/p>\n

Nothing, however, is erupting now except these words as I sit here typing on a warm, sunny morning at my writing desk, and so I will now form an answer. <\/p>\n

I have a very hard time believing that grown adults, quite able to grasp the concepts I laid before them, do not understand what they are intentionally doing by being so foolish, shortsighted, self-degrading, and destructive as to continue voting in political elections. I also find it sad and utterly loathsome that those who vote, whether they recognize it or not, are nothing short of beggars with little or no self-respect. Voting is buying into a con-game. It is seeking permission to be given freedom \u2013 something voting and government will never and cannot by its very intrinsic nature give you even if those running it wanted to, which I assure you they don\u2019t and never will. Voting is a tacit endorsement of inflicting theft and violence not only upon one\u2019s self, but upon the rest of society and humanity in general. It is a callous disregard of life, liberty, and property. It is one of the most destructive activities imaginable, tantamount to robbery and murder. <\/p>\n

I do not and resolutely refuse to vote because I hold myself to a higher moral and spiritual character. I have a stronger and healthier ego; a greater sense of pride and self-worth. I don\u2019t get on my knees and beg anyone. I denounce thievery and violence; I consider myself more advanced than that. I possess greater intellect than to believe anything so preposterous as the notion that anyone else has the right to run my life or manage my property without my explicit consent \u2013 consent I refuse to give by voting. <\/p>\n

I don\u2019t need to be \u201cone of the gang.\u201d I don\u2019t care about being \u201caccepted\u201d because I just do what everyone else does to avoid being considered too radical, or far-out, or just plain weird. I\u2019m not caught up in those kinds of weak, ridiculous social threats that only prove the fear and ignorance of those who are timid victims of the lies and propaganda of the status quo hoi polloi. You know, the bullshit that says if you\u2019ll only just be like everyone else, you\u2019ll end up with all the girls, all the admiration, all the success. Try taking a look at where the people who believe that actually are and I need nothing more to prove my point. Being a challenger, a defier, a revolutionary, an outcast \u2013 these are things that take innovation. They take strength. They take integrity. They require principles and character. They take balls, dammit. <\/p>\n

These are some of the reasons I don\u2019t and won\u2019t vote. For anyone. Ever. I invite you \u2013the brave, the strong, the intelligent, and the wise to join me. <\/p>\n

Oh, and in case this whole extrapolation sounded condescending and pedantic to you, go ahead and keep voting. See if it puts you on the high road. <\/p>\n

By Alex R. Knight<\/p>\n

Also See:
\nOn the Meaning of Voting<\/a><\/p>\n


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Strike-The-Root.com | \u201cAll right, here it is: I hereby unilaterally declare forever and hereafter that I will never use physical violence, fraud, or deception in order to control the life or property of anyone in this room. Is that clear?\u201d There were eight other people in the room, one of whom was the professor. Everyone […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[294],"tags":[141],"class_list":["post-4713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-voting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/oooorgle.com\/BeyondTheCorral\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/oooorgle.com\/BeyondTheCorral\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/oooorgle.com\/BeyondTheCorral\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oooorgle.com\/BeyondTheCorral\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oooorgle.com\/BeyondTheCorral\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4713"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/oooorgle.com\/BeyondTheCorral\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4713\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/oooorgle.com\/BeyondTheCorral\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oooorgle.com\/BeyondTheCorral\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oooorgle.com\/BeyondTheCorral\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}