So,
This question was posed by a friend on Facebook:
"I have a question for all of the non-voters. Why are you a non-voter? Wouldn't it workout better if you found like minded people and started your own thing? That would influence the system. Doing nothing gets no results at all."
I gave this for a short answer:
"Voting violates my principles. I don't believe anyone on the planet has the "right" to dictate at gunpoint what others can do, can't do, or must do. When you vote, you are voting for people who use violence and threats of violence to force other people to live their lives in a way that the people with the guns find acceptable. I know you're a libertarian and so you want to repeal most of rules governing people's lives but the game is rigged and you're never going to win. More importantly, when you vote, you legitimize (at least in the minds of many people) a system of control based on violence. And, true to Obama's promise of transparency, it has become quite clear that when you vote, you are voting for the 1%. It's their system and when you vote, you're saying, "I support you in screwing me over for your benefit." Voting is a trap for your mind, an illusion that you have some influence over the system, a way for them to maintain control. As long as you keep supporting them, you will never have the freedom that you think you are working so hard to achieve. You will never be free by voting for new masters."
That's the short answer?
Well, by comparison, this is "Part 1" of a series dedicated to answering the question.
Point taken.
A couple of follow up questions were asked and I gave them quite a bit of thought because I know that the person asking the questions is actually looking for some answers. Many times, questions in this vein are asked in a shocked, rhetorical fashion in an effort to bring the poor, misguided soul (me) back in line with supporting the rulers (or, at the very least, to get them to shut up). In this case though, the questions were asked in earnest with a sincere desire for a thoughtful answer. The first thing I had to do was quiet the knee-jerk sarcastic responses in my head because of how these questions are usually asked.
Well, I mmph, mumble, mumble, humph. Hey!
Yes, he meant you.
Following that, I gave the questions some thought, reread the original question and my response to that question, and reread the follow up questions. The fact that the question was asked by a libertarian (who, many times, posts anarchistic quotes on his Facebook timeline) motivated me to make a sincere attempt to provide an informative answer. Rereading my original response though, I felt like I touched (however briefly) on the reasons that I don't vote.
Those reasons, summed up to the point of being blog post titles are: Ethics, Logic, and The Rigged System.
For the rest of the week, I will delve more deeply into each topic, expanding on my original comment in depth, and do a final "clean-up" post to address the follow-up questions that were asked. I will start with the topic that I think is the most important and, ironically, was covered the least in my original comment: Ethics. If children were taught ethics instead of obedience, we wouldn't even be having this discussion. Obviously, the rulers are not going to teach children something that will end their reign so it's up to us to do it.
I don't think . . .
No, you don't.
Couple ethics with logic and you have a serious game changer, which, of course, means that logic and critical thinking will definitely not be part of Common Core. These two principles, when linked together, are far too dangerous to a system that is based on double-think. People must believe that good is bad and bad is good and that the only way to change the system is to keep doing the same things over and over, without change.
Persistence is the key.
Persistent ignorance?
And just in case some group comes along that learns how to play the game in such a way that it might possibly throw a wrench into the plans of the rulers, a strategy must implemented to convince people that the only way to change the system is from within the system and procedures put in place to ensure that the system can't be changed from within the system.
That's a solid plan.
Obviously. Congress has a 16% approval rating but people still vote for them.
Each day, I'll go deeper into each of these topics to explain in more detail why I don't vote, at least not in the manner expressed by the question. I still vote, just not in that way. By not voting in the charade of the current system, I am voting for a change to something better, something morally sound, something that consistently makes sense, and something where change is actually possible.