Why I Am Not Voting
September 30th, 2008
McCain and Obama are both evil candidates. McCain/Obama both advocate mass murder by supporting the continuation of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. They differ only in that Obama wants to transfer some troops from Iraq to Afghanistan, leaving behind a “residual force” of undetermined size. McCain/Obama believe the U.S. should continue to spend more on the military than all the other countries in the world combined (Obama thinks it should be even larger). They advocate capitalism, a system which is currently evicting millions from their homes, enriching the already wealthy while poverty rates increase, and generally wrecking havoc on the lives of billions of people. McCain/Obama advocate giving $700 billion to mismanaged banks. McCain/Obama both stand for oppression and mass murder. In a representative government, voting for a candidate is an implicit endorsement of that candidate and their positions. Because I do not support oppression and mass murder I cannot vote for McCain/Obama.
I would not vote even if there were a viable non-evil candidate to vote for. Let's presuppose the Green party, or anyone genuinely committed to social justice and reigning in corporate power, were to win every single elected office nationwide in a massive landslide. If they keep their promises and implement policies that go against the interests of big business then profits will go down and businesses & investors will withdraw their investments. Capital flight will cause the economy to crash and unemployment to skyrocket. If the ruling party does not change its policies to appease big business then they'll lose the next elections due to the bad economy. Most parties will change their policies to satisfy the corporate elite in order to avoid losing power, and if they don't a pro-corporate party will win the next elections.
In practice, the mere threat of capital flight is enough to keep potentially recalcitrant politicians in line. This is why politicians so often promise one thing during the election yet do something completely different once in office. It makes no difference who wins the elections – either way, business and the state bureaucracy rule. Since voting for a non-evil candidate is ineffective, clearly voting for a “lesser of two evils” is out of the question.
Voting actually enhances the power of corporate and state elites and is therefore counter-productive. Elections create the illusion that “the people” rule – that ordinary people have a say in how the government works. The people don’t really rule – corporate and bureaucratic elites rule. The sham that “the people” rule helps generate support for the state, reduce unrest, and weaken opposition to the current socio-economic system.
The existence of elections means many people who are dissatisfied with the status quo express that dissatisfaction at the polls (where they change nothing) rather than in engaging in activities that might actually create change. If dissidents choose to participate in election campaigns it diverts energy and resources away from activities that might actually bother the elite. Rather than being a means by which ordinary people exert control over the state, elections are a means in which the state (and its corporate allies) exert control over us.
I refuse to vote because I do not believe they should have that control over us. To vote for any representative is to authorize someone else to tell you what to do and to control your life. That is what politicians do. Rather than voting, I choose to rebel and revolt in order to force the elite to change their behavior and (eventually) overthrow them entirely. To vote for anyone is to vote for a system in which politicians in Washington, CEOs on Wall Street, and generals in the Pentagon rule. I refuse to vote because I am capable of controlling my own life.