In his On The Duty of
Civil Disobedience (1849), Henry David Thoreau asked:
How does it become a man
to behave toward this American government to-day? I answer that he cannot
without disgrace be associated with it . . . . What I have to do is to see, at
any rate, that I do not lend myself to the wrong which I condemn.
Readers of Strike The
Root recognize that there are two principal demands that their governments make
upon them: pay your taxes and vote. (Of course, there are many other "demands,"
such as military service, send your children to school, have a drivers license,
etc., but many of these are ancillary to the primary means of government
survival, which is the collection of taxes.)
Now, of these two
principal demands, taxation carries criminal sanctions: Pay your money or we
imprison your body and/or confiscate your property. However, as yet in most
nations of the world, failure to vote in government elections carries no
penalty.
Governments, like all
other hierarchical institutions, depend upon the cooperation and, at least, the
tacit consent of those over whom they exercise power. In other words, government
soldiers and police can force people to do things they don't want to do, but in
the long run--in the face of adamant opposition--such coercion is either too
expensive or too futile to accomplish its goals of subjugating entire
populations. It is far simpler to motivate people to do what you want them to
do, rather than forcing them to do it by pointing guns at them all the time. As
Boris Yeltsin supposedly said, "You can build a throne with bayonets, but you
can't sit on it long."
Educating generations of parents and children in government schools and teaching them to be patriotic and support their government in political elections is one of the fundamental ways governments garner public support. Citizens are taught that it is both their right and duty to vote. But all this is done with an ulterior motive in mind. As Theodore Lowi, in his book INCOMPLETE CONQUEST: GOVERNING AMERICA pointed out:
Participation is an
instrument of [government] conquest because it encourages people to give their
consent to being governed . . . . Deeply embedded in people's sense of fair play
is the principle that those who play the game must accept the outcome. Those who
participate in politics are similarly committed, even if they are consistently
on the losing side. Why do politicians plead with everyone to get out and vote?
Because voting is the simplest and easiest form of participation [of supporting
the state] by masses of people. Even though it is minimal participation, it is
sufficient to commit all voters to being governed, regardless of who wins.
Not voting in government
elections is one way of refusing to participate; of refusing to consent to
government rule over your life. Non-voting may be seen as an act of personal
secession, of exposing the myth behind "government by consent." There are many
reasons, both moral and practical, for choosing "not to vote," and they have
been discussed in my anthology,
DISSENTING ELECTORATE. To briefly summarize:
Truth does not depend upon a majority vote. Two plus two equals four regardless of how many people vote that it equals five.
Individuals have rights which do not depend on the outcome of elections. Majorities of voters cannot vote away the rights of a single individual or groups of individuals.
Voting is implicitly a coercive act because it lends support to a compulsory government.
Voting reinforces the legitimacy of the state because the participation of the voters makes it appear that they approve of their government.
There are ways of
opposing the state, other than by voting "against" the incumbents. (And
remember, even if the opposition politicians are the lesser of two evils, they
are still evil.) Such non-political methods as civil disobedience, non-violent
resistance, home schooling, bettering one's self, and improving one's own
understanding of voluntaryism all go far in robbing the government of its much
sought after legitimacy.
As Thoreau pointed out, "All voting is a sort of gaming, like chequers or backgammon . . . . Even voting for the right is doing nothing for it." So whatever you do, don't play the government's game. Don't vote. Do something for the right.
http://www.strike-the-root.com/vote.html
and...click here too.