To Vote Or Not To Vote?

This may seem a strange question with an obvious answer. “Of course I’ll vote. Why wouldn’t I?” I think most people would say this. But I’d say slow down and think it over. It all goes back to Gandhi, doesn’t everything? Gandhi says we should do nothing too perpetuate a corrupt evil system. One can argue our current government is about as corrupt and evil as it gets. Yeah, sure we are not the Pol Pot regime or a bunch of National Socialists but we’re pretty damn bad. Just ask an Iraqi, Vietnamese or an Afghan. And these folks are just the tip of our massive ice burg of cold self serving evil. There is no need to go into the long sad list of the murderous wrongs committed by our government in the name of maintaining the current operating economic paradigm of Neoliberalism. You may have noticed a discussion of Neoliberalism is well sorta missing from the current so called “debate” between Romney and Obama. This is but one of a number of topics that are seemingly off limits in the main stream media as well as between the candidates. Single payer health care, sane gun control and a real jobs plan are also on the list of unmentionables. So our “choice” is really quite limited falling within a narrow red band on the political spectrum. We have the options of center right and far right. I ask in all seriousness is that really a choice? So keep Obama and we keep the War on Terror (but they don’t call it that anymore), the world-wide American Gulag, Domestic Spying, torture, state sponsored targeted extra-judicial killings and being Israel’s bitch. And on the domestic side, continued gridlock, crumbling infrastructure, unneeded and unwarranted financial rewards for big banks, big oil and big ag. Oh, and let’s not forget the continued militarization of the police. Romney? All of that plus a likely unnecessary war with Iran, a re-start to the cold war with Russia and forget about leaving Afghanistan. And domestically, take away the safety net (what is left of it), more wealth disparity, and killing off the remains of the middle class. Both paths lead to Hell but the second moves us along faster.

Let’s consider not voting. Easy there, just read and give it a chance. Voting keeps the circus going by legitimizing the power causing all the suffering. There is the age old counter argument, if you don’t vote, you should not complain. BULLSHIT. Not voting is a legitimate choice. We call one political party states undemocratic, dictatorships and fascists. I’d say given the fairly narrow differences above, we too live in a one political party state. Call it the Republacrat or the Democan party. Either name represents the finest glitzy sham elections money can buy. 100 million form one guy for Romney and this is called “free speech.” Obama? This is the same guy that had the big banks by the balls and let them go without any meaningful reforms. They owe him.So how does not voting play into this? If just a hand full of people voted, those "elected" would have no legitimacy to govern. Sure they would be Koo-Koo enough to make pretty Sarah look like an intellectual giant. But would the army and the police actually enforce laws and such passed by a government that so few voted for? When the old Soviet Army was ordered to attack Yeltsin and the Russian people, they essentially said "nuts" and the rest is history. Things have not worked out ideally in Russia but they did get rid of a totalitarian regime more or less peacefully. The people quit playing the game. This is astonishing given Russian history. If we had a largely marginalized government in DC no one was following, we may be able to call a Third Continental Congress and transition from a government of the corporations by the corporations and for the corporations to one of the people by the people and for the people. But that's far off for several reasons.

We (you and I) have free speech but only up to a point. If one of us starts to ask difficult questions like why is there a bottom billion, why are there entitlements of bank bailouts with so many falling into poverty or why are we still using fossil fuel despite the environmental damage the do, one can expect public ridicule, an unfortunate accident in the not too distant future or getting whacked extra-judicially of course. Just read a little. Here Here and Here. You and I do not control the media and that makes almost impossible to get out an alternative narrative to Neoliberalism. How can we offer a different view to the average schmo (I like that word) who gets his or her news via the boob tube every night in 3 minute soundbites? Another problem is we are a house divided. I read the on going discussions posted on FB from my local Occupy group and everyone has a different view on voting (including myself). Some think the current system is reformable while others think it is not (and some are in between). We seem to be divided on our focus as well. Some work on foreclosure, others on energy and others on minority rights. If I've missed some things my apologises. All of these are important and worthwhile but is this multi-dimensional approach the best way to focus on the root cause of so many of our problems? A tiny tiny group controlling so much of the wealth in the world and translating that into raw power used for their own gain are the heart of the problem. Small local actions (demonstrations, sit ins etc) are important but until we can put half a million in the streets in cities around the country (the world??) on a weekly basis, the small local stuff can be largely ignored by the powers that be. I applaud any and all local actions we have done. You guys give me hope (you know who you are). I'm not saying stop all the local work. I'm asking how can we continue local efforts and add large national level actions as well? I'm digressing. Problems, so many problems. A huge problem we face is the growth of the national-security state we find ourselves in. A fellow occupy member felt there was a good chance he'd be taken out by a sniper at an action. I think he was half joking and half serious. After all, it is all fun and games until we become a real threat to the status quo. Then lessons learned in Iraq, Afghanistan and who the hell knows where else will be applied right here. Some yahoo is looking at this now (hello there!!) and adding me to a "watch list" if I'm not on one already. Sir, I don't advocate violence or anything illegal only a better life for all. Where does this leave us?

So the real question is to vote or not to vote. To those who still believe the current system can somehow be reformed by voting for one party or another, I invite and welcome your feedback. Dido those who think some other method may work. I'd also invite you to read what you can on the following links.

Stan Goff Hillary's Bones.
Ted Rall Read a few posts and you'll get the idea.
Chris Hedges Our express way to hell.
John M. Greer Alternative future. Not the unlimited progress we are programed to accept.
Dmitry Orlov Post collapse.

... and some rally heavy reading go here. WARNING Better have your thinking cap on.