The following is taken from one of my contributions to the alt.fan.noam-chomsky newsgroup. The subject of discussion was whether someone would be wasting their vote by casting a ballot for a third-party candidate who had no realistic chance of winning.

Here’s my 2/100ths: The idea of the “wasted vote” is a conundrum; several good observations have been made, but I’d like to trace the implications of voting, non-voting, etc., at least with regard to the U.S. electoral process.

First of all, let's admit that the ideological spectrum is rather narrow in this area; self-styled “liberals” like the Clintons can multiply prison and police expenditures sixfold, while Republicans wail that the president’s unbridled liberalism is pushing the nation toward socialism. I place that right alongside notions of the “liberal conspiracy” that supposedly dominates our media and education systems. Perhaps Gore Vidal said it best: “America is a one-party system with two right-wings.” It ensures the election of the candidate who can plausibly invoke the rhetoric of populism in public, privately assuring wealthy contributors that a safe “investment climate” and a docile workforce are the intended goals.

Furthermore, the voters don't set the agenda; don't decide which issues are to be considered, and what solutions are permissible (take, for instance, the hoopla surrounding the national health care debate: single-payer plans—for good or ill—were not even on the menu). All that remains are the hollow protests of these political elites that the other candidate has no integrity, character, etc., etc. A moot point entirely, it seems to me.

If one wishes to work within the system, to “play by the rules,” it should be pointed out that politicians do not. Anyone who remembers the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party debacle in Atlantic City knows this. The rules are fine, unless they work against the prerogatives of the powerful.

Part-and-parcel with this is the fact that, as Chomsky has pointed out, real issues are “insulated” from public scrutiny and decision making. Hence, quality of life issues like the environment, capital investment, health care, employment, etc., do not fall under the rubric of electoral politics. An example: The Federal Reserve. Whenever the economy begins to pick up, and unemployment dips, an unelected and unaccountable body of men tinker with interest rates to slow the growth, throwing more people out of work. We can’t tamper with the reserve army of the unemployed, now can we? High unemployment exerts such a “salubrious”—and downward—pressure on wages. These issues are far more relevant to voters than whether candidate A or candidate B will be permitted to serve the corporate interest.

There is another issue to be considered, however. It is becoming increasingly clear that as political elites continue their unremitting war on social spending and “entitlements,” low voter turnout—or, in other words, voter apathy—has been interpreted as a green light to continue the slash and burn campaign. Case in point: statistics show that the poor have the lowest voter turnout, therefore the least political relevance to a system which is, ostensibly, democratic. Predictably, this group has been the most injured by the sanctimonious (and hypocritical) “let’s get government off our backs” onslaught. Illegal aliens, who cannot vote at all, have also made convenient targets, as California’s experiences illustrate (Proposition 187, et al).

In an age of intensified class warfare, even the most miniscule political leverage may make the difference between being cut off at the hip or at the knee.

These, as I see it, are the issues to be considered. If one believes that voting exerts an influence, albeit a small one, then voting is the logical thing to do. Voting, abstaining, “protest” ballots, etc., should not be undertaken to make a philosophical or moral statement. Such an example is undoubtedly lost on the marauding politicos who run the country.

I welcome any observations and replies, but be forewarned: any posts which exhibit free-market mantras or the indiscriminate use of the words “freedom,” “democracy,” “self-determination,” etc., will be relegated to my killfile—as well as the dustbin of history ;-)

Kind regards,
—Robert Engbers

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“Let your life be a counter-friction to stop the machine.”
—Henry David Thoreau
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