Don’t Vote, So I Can’t Hear You Complain
Cats: Current Events, Politics|
To all of you out there who are goign to complain about the outcome of the election, regardless of who wins, I say:
Don’t Vote!
That’s right. A long-time axiom I have held to in politics is “If you don’t vote, you can’t complain.” This is a tenet I hold near and dear to my heart, because I prefer to reserve the right to complain if I don’t like what happens in government and politics. I can complain about Bush because I voted for him twice and feel betrayed. I can complain about Congressman Dennis Moore because I’ve always voted against him and I can’t stand that he’s still my representative.
But if all you’re going to do is complain about the system, I’d rather that you just stay home on Election Day and turn off the TV, and don’t even think about calling me. Because if you don’t vote I don’t have to hear you complain about how ‘the electoral college is crap,’ and ‘they’re all a bunch of crooks anyway.’ The electoral college may not be your favorite method of electing a leader, sir or madam, but it’s the one we have. And if you don’t want ‘crooks’ in office, why don’t you run for office yourself, or at least encourage your favorite prospective leader in your neighborhood to run for office, and support their candidacy?
I would be all for a new Constitutional Convention. I think the system is just about as broken as we can make it right now, and it’s not looking like Obama or anyone else will really be able to fix anything about the system as a whole. But I also don’t think we’re the right generation to go creating a new Constitution. Because all we’ll do is bring old partisanship and grudges into the discussion, and we won’t have made any progress.
If we’re to create a system you really can’t complain about, sir or madam, then we should start with the next generation, my son’s generation. We need to give these kids the best education possible, by supplementing public or private school learning with honest-to-God home-schooling. These kids should be out in the world getting to know their peers and elders, and learning all kinds of government-sanctioned stuff on the standardized tests; but they should also get after-hours tutelage by the best minds our generation has to offer (namely, you and me) by making these kids learn what’s Really Important. Maybe then they’ll be educated enough to be the Washington’s and Jefferson’s and Adams’s of tomorrow. Then you won’t be able to complain about the system, because in some small way, you had a direct hand in creating it.
November 4th, 2008 at 9:12 am
I get what you’re saying, but I have to respectfully disagree on at least one major point. I, personally, do think it’s entirely valid and warranted to complain (loudly, at that) about the electoral system. I have no intention of voting mainly because of that system (the other issue being that I am neither poor nor rich enough that any politician cares about my interests). Just because I happen to live in a dyed-in-the-wool red state, a vote for president in any other fashion is effectively useless. Of course, the same, but opposite, circumstance exists in states that almost always go blue.
Until this country sees fit to truly use a system that reflects the popular vote, I have no intention of participating. I don’t know what, specifically, would be a better way to do things, but I’m confident that we couldn’t do much worse.
I respect your position, and I’m not arguing that anyone should do things my way, necessarily. I just don’t agree with the idea that those who choose to abstain because the system doesn’t work should be encouraged to remain silent. Nothing ever changes like that.
November 4th, 2008 at 9:41 am
A fair point, but are you abstaining from all elections just because of the electoral college in the top race? I don’t think anything will change that way either.
November 4th, 2008 at 7:09 pm
I’m not specifically abstaining from the rest due to the electoral college. I am abstaining, because I don’t have a particular interest in any of the issues on the ballot, and quite a few people are running unopposed in Douglas County. I probably would just skip everything else anyway.
November 4th, 2008 at 9:53 pm
I’ve been meaning to ask you all day, Jeff: What about the argument that going only popular vote for the presidency leads to candidates only campaigning in the population centers? No one will care about Iowa, New Hampshire…and no one will ever, ever care about Kansas in the presidential race. At least with the electoral college, if Kansas appears close, the candidates might campaign here to try to turn the tide…
Also, I’m fully in favor of the Maine/Nebraska technique of apportioning their electors based on districts and/or percentage. What do you think?
November 4th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
I don’t think that a strict popular vote tally is necessarily the way to go, primarily due to the level of work involved. I don’t know, though, if the idea of campaign style shift would be that much different than what we have now. Almost no campaign time was spent by either McCain or Obama in anything but “battleground” states recently. It’s kind of a wash, in my opinion.
I do think that the split elector system is something to explore. At least it’s somewhat more representative of the actual popular vote, as opposed to the current electoral system.