To Vote or Not to Vote

I wrestle with this topic in my mind on a somewhat regulare basis. The logical conclusion I always end up at is an outcome of not voting.

The idea that those who do not vote have not the freedom to complain is assinine and must be squashed out if society is to achieve progress. It is my position that those who do vote are the ones who have forfeited their rights to complain. The act of voting implies an endorsement of what the politicians are doing. It is a means by which a citizen can put his individual seal of approval on all the things that government is doing and will do.

The economic freedom that Americans are losing every year as government grows will not receive my approval through voting. The fact is neither the republicrats nor the demopublicans are actually working to restore our lost freedoms, whether they be economic or social in nature. Both parties love to talk a good game at election time, but they never cease to disapoint year after year as they continue to encroach on our wallets and private lives.

Most Americans are probably unaware of the Heritage Foundation's recently published 2006 Index of Economic Freedom, which ranks 161 countries of the world based on the amount of economic liberty enjoyed by the citizens of said countries. Those Americans who do become familiar with the index should not be surprised that the USA is no longer number 1. That spot currently belongs to Hong Kong. The USA is setting comfortably, or perhaps not so comfortably, at number 9.

It is time to wake up folks! We are losing our freedoms year after year, and you who vote for the two dominating parties in Washington year after year are responsible for it. If there is not an alternative option on your ballot when you step into the voting booth that offers a true change in the direction of more freedom, then by voting you are committing a disservice to liberty and the American way.

In my state, I have only the Republicans and the Democrats to choose from. Third parties, including the Libertarian Party, have been kept off of the ballot for years due to the most restrictive ballot access laws in the country. And since I strongly believe in the idea that if you do vote you should vote your conscience, I have only the option of non-voting at election time. It is the only choice I can make under the current system that truly reflects my beliefs. And as Tucker Carlson has said of this issue, "there is no shame in that choice."