WHY I VOTE.

Voting.  We’re taught to view it as our civic duty, one of only three remaining “sacrifices” this country actually asks of its citizens (the first of the other two being to pay your taxes, which - I’m ashamed to say - a sizable percentage of this country cheats, and the second being to register for the selective service upon reaching age 18 – a sacrifice from which an entire sex is exempt.) So given how little modern American actually asks of us, it’s not surprising that the majority of us view voting as something like a chore.  In many ways I’m no different.  From age five onward, I was reminded every November that voting is just one of those things responsible people do; like saving 10% of every paycheck or never having sex without a condom.

Some of you who just read this probably think I was joking about the paycheck and the condoms, but if you think about it – it’s not a bad analogy.  You shouldn’t save 10% of every paycheck: you should find ways to invest it and put it to work for you.  Similarly, it is possible to practice “safe-sex” without a condom (to learn how, view the following options.)  And finally, you really shouldn’t vote unless you have a valid reason.  Being informed (of at least the propaganda) is the real civic responsibility, not merely checking a name next to a box or identifying with any particular political party.

The first time I voted (2002) was in the gubernatorial race of Oregon.  It ended up being one of the closest elections in state history: Kulongoski (D) got 49% while Mannix (R) garnered 46.2%.  I voted for the Libertarian candidate – Tom Cox.  Why?  Simple, I was in the process of applying to colleges at the time so I merely whipped out my Princeton Review book, browsed through my voters guide to see which college each had attended and then made my mark next to the one whose school had the highest ranking – assuming that said candidate must therefore be the brightest of the bunch.

I assume I need not go further in illustrating why voting is not necessarily what responsible people do.

Several years later I’m a far more educated voter.  I’m a big fan of democracy – not republicanism – democracy.  That’s why I like initiatives, referendums, levies, bonds – anything that forces the electorate to do more than vote for the candidate who doesn’t look French, is friends with Joe the Plumber, or who has read books beyond the Bible.  I’m a big fan of forcing people to make decisions on the issues, not the idiots who run for office.  I only wish that the Left had its own Tim Eyman to make the case for why Washington needs an income tax, universal healthcare (socialized medicine) and market controls placed on the cost of college (banning hardcover books would be a good start, though a guaranteed four-year freeze on tuition costs for incoming freshman would be even better.)

THE DECLINE IN VOTING

Too many people – politicians especially – bemoan the loss of civic engagement.  Or at least, a fraction of civic engagement; few politicians are seen bemoaning the absences of a draft or campaigning on a platform to hold tax-evaders accountable.  Sure, Republicans can indict welfare mothers and illegal immigrants for cheating the system, while Democrats can meekly talk about removing tax-breaks on businesses that take jobs overseas – but seemingly neither party can pledge to hunt-down the millions of tax-evaders (the people cheating you and I out of their fair share of revenue for roads, schools, defense and entitlements.)

No, the only civic engagement whose decline they universally bemoan is the stunning fact that only a fraction of our electorate participates in even national elections.  While of course I always like to watch the elites blame the victim, there are reasons other than lethargy and cynicism that explain why so many eligible voters don’t cast their ballot.  The most prominent reason, of course, is the decline of a democratic system in favor of a republican model of government in this country.

When our forefathers began this “grand experiment” back in the late 18^th Century, they set up a system where only White, male, owners of deeds to 20 acres or more of land, could vote.  At the local level, some states also prohibited Catholics, Quakers, Jews and other non-Protestants to participate in electing local officials.  In effect, voters in this time period represented an electorate of the elite, which made republicanism – the idea that you elect someone to make decisions on your behalf – unpopular.  Thus, real power was concentrated in local offices and state legislatures, allowing the electorate to vote for candidates who – given their similar background and social status – they probably personally knew and trusted to represent their interests.  For many decades, government in this country was run like an exclusive gentleman’s club: a restricted golf course in effect.

Then, two big things happened.  It began with the rise of the Democratic Party.

Simultaneously attributed to presidents Thomas Jefferson (1800-1808) and Andrew Jackson (1829-1837) the Democratic Party was born on the frontiers of America where the wisdom of wealthy, intellectually entrenched elites, was nonexistent.  Jefferson’s Democratic Republicans thought the workingman (the working White man that is) was entitled to more than just “a piece of the pie.”  They envisioned a nation run – not by a handful of Harvard graduates – but by a couple million small farmers working on their own land.  Land ultimately became an obsession of the Jefferson Administration, for in the earlier years of the Republic it was title to land that enabled one to vote.  And voting, at least in the early years of the republic, was real power.   This of course all led to the famous Louisiana Purchase, effectively doubling the size of the country and – Jefferson hoped – the potential number of eligible voters.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, October 30th, 2008 at 2:08 am and is filed under Contributor Series, Like My Parents?, The Melon, The Vine. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.