The Right Not to Vote

today's election is the first in which i've not participated, i think, since becoming eligible. i feel badly, because i consider voting a special privilege and like to take advantage of it to show my gratitude for our freedom and to participate in the system.

in some countries, like belgium, it is illegal not to vote. my friend, sara rubens, said that there is a fine if you do not vote.

anyway, i didn't vote today because i was not informed enough about the issues. i haven't researched any of the measures, and wasn't familiar with any of the democratic candidates for governor. i never vote for school board or local judicial candidates because i don't know much about them.

i will be voting for the democratic candidate come november, however. i think schwarzenegger has done a decent job, considering his background and party affiliation, but i almost always vote democratic because their views match up with mine much more closely than republicans' views do.

i also think that ours is essentially a two party system, and that voting for other parties like libertarian or green, while ideologically fabulous, is almost a waste of a vote. they simply aren't going to win, and rather than show my support for a multi-party system by voting for one of them, i prefer to actually influence the results by voting for the major parties.

i think you generally have to change the system from within, rather than stand on the outside, screaming and yelling and stomping your feet.

i do take that approach when it comes to mental health advocacy, however, because i think the "in-your-face" approach is the most effective one for me to take.

but i digress. because democrats support and acknowledge issues such as education, healthcare, and gay rights, i support them. i think it would be fun to work on a campaign, actually. i liked howard dean very much and think he was discredited because he dared to speak his heart. a man after my own heart! i think those are the kind of guys who soldiers would follow straight into battle and off a cliff, if need be. like rfk, i think they can just sweep you away.

in fact, to continue my tangent, joe trippi, who i believe was dean's campaign manager, said that he cried when he learned of rfk's assassination. that, to me, shows heart and passion, and i love it! can't get enough of that sh*t, when the system works and the right people end up in the right places.

anyway, i think gay marriage should be legal. i suppose it's ok to oppose it, but not really, since, in my book, that's like saying it's ok to prevent jews from marrying. that opinion is founded on the denial of the reality of homosexual love, which i believe is the same as any other kind.

sometimes i feel like it's the ultra-religious folks, the christian fundamentalists, who oppose gay marriage the most vehemently. my problem with this is that by supporting anti-gay legislation, they are trying to impose their values on others. not everyone is christian, and it's not ok to try to write religious views into government, in my opinion. that is unconstitutional.

anyway, i pity people who haven't had the chance to establish, based on their own experience, their own views about homosexuality. it's a real shame that most people who oppose homosexuality have probably never had a gay friend or mentor or colleague in their lives. if it's not based on real life experience, then it's based on ideology born of ignorance, and that is not ok in my world.

what was i talking about to begin with? oh, why i vote democrat. because they support state funding of education and healthcare and a host of other state-funded programs that the republicans scoff at. the private sector does not distribute wealth evenly, so it falls to the state to do that. this is why i vote democratic. values and pragmatics. experience over ideology. recognizing the average american, rather than scorning her. questioning bigotry and close-mindedness. embracing difference.
[image courtesy of drudgereport.com]