2008 Election Advice

I don't vote, never have. Politics is futile.

So my first advice this election year is, forget it. Focus upon something that will really make a difference.

If you really can't run with that, and this will be because you've been conditioned to believe it is important that you behave a certain way during election season, then I have this advice for you. Don't even consider voting based on personality. It makes no difference.

That's not to say you should not vote for the candidate you like intuitively, you should do that - but ignore whatever you hear about the candidate, trust your instinct.

Will this help?

No, but you'll feel better about it.

If you really do have to put some effort into considering which candidate to vote for then the right thing to do is to consider which set of conventions surrounding the candidates that you want to have in place in Washington, because it is the conventions that rule. The individuals are just players that act out the drama, they have no real say in the outcomes of events.

Will THIS help?

No, but at least you were aware of what is really important. Why does this not help? The truth is that the difference between conventions embodied by the candidates and their parties is not substantively different and statistics is on the side of fate.

And here is the really bad news. The winning candidate is already the inevitable consequence of our society, how you vote is going to make no difference what-so-ever.

So what should you do?

Well the one guy in the field that is actually making a difference and really could affect outcomes, because he is actually evangelizing and advocating a change of conventions, AND HE IS NOT RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT, is Al Gore. So if you really want to make a difference election year then stop glorifying bureaucrats and get behind someone like Al Gore and help them to execute their mission.

Does this mean that you will make a difference in this coming election year?

Well, yes, in bit-part way.

If you really want to make a significant difference in the world next year, if you want to improve our society and make our world a better place, then it is better still that you dissent, that you advocate a position that, like Al Gore's, is deeply rooted in a personal mission. You can make a real difference by simple dissent and advocacy - and it really doesn't matter what your position is, just have one; discover or invent one.

Don't worry, you won't be shouting against a crowd of similar advocates because the number of people that will read this blog and actually go off and do something like this is miniscule, if any at all. But if you want to escape the fantasy of election year drama and actually do something that will improve our society and the lot our our fellow citizens then "dissent."

What do I call this philosophy? Well, it is funny that you should ask because it is called "Democracy." It is a philosophy that advocates the right of dissent and a fair hearing, and it has nothing to do with "the vote" or our current system of government. You may have heard of it.

Try it.

Comments

[Kev]

Someone told me that if you don't vote you shouldn't complain.

Can we start an Al Gore write-in campaign?

Kev.

[Steven Ericsson-Zenith]

Oh, you don't want to put Al Gore in as president! That would effectively neutralize him.

You didn't read what I said above. Gore can have an influence on the outcomes of events by remaining the evangelist he has become. If you put him into government then he simply becomes a player in the drama and he will have no real impact upon events. Administrations differ only to the extent that the conventions they embody differ and the claim here is that the conventions in potential administrations is essentially the same. That point is open to challenge but either way the outcomes are inevitable and do not rely upon individual actions - not even the individual actions of presidents.

Presidents, and politics in general, is impotent. The point of the post is to observe the power of individual initiative, the power of democracy as an act of the people and the sham of "the vote." I propose that we cease to glorify bureaucrats. The drama of election year is a shared public fantasy with no meaningful outcome, it does not alter inevitable outcomes that derive from our conventions.

I am in the process of assembling some of my political theory work for posting to the web, this includes a paper on the futility of politics in which I consider the outcomes of the past 7 years had Al Gore won the 2000 election. I conclude that the outcomes would be exactly the same, all that would differ is the drama that surrounds those events - and we'd feel differently about those outcomes as a result but that is all the difference there would be.

[Kev]

Wasn't really serious about the write-in, however I'm sure that Al would have appreciated a few more individuals voting for him in Florida in 2000 - I think it would have made a big difference. But then again you are probably right that the endpoint would be similar, i.e. if there wasn't an Iraq war it would be some other war. On a planet only capable of supporting ~ 1 billion people the death of the excess (plus some) is somewhat inevitable.

My current theory is that societies continually practice for their next major conflict. An interesting talk was given by Chris Hedges a while ago - War is a Force that Gives Us Meaning http://www.prx.org/pieces/7562 .

That aside, "Democracy fails when its people realize they can vote themselves the treasury" (Tyler - http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a39c1a77534e2.htm)

- in other words if folks are not prepared to pay the necessary taxes to keep things running properly you end up where the USA is now: large amounts of public debt and big business in charge (via "campaign contributions").

Democracy probably will work better when people realize what is really at stake, but as George Bush has found out giving people a vote often means they can just all agree and demonstrate that they don't like you.

I'll be voting if they allow me :-)

[Rick]

Everyone who doesn't cast a vote helps the world by not diluting mine.

[Steven Ericsson-Zenith]

A clever retort Rick, but futile none-the-less.