With the Wisconsin primary election a few days away I ask the question: Why not vote? The question could be taken two ways. One is to say that voting is important and we have no good excuse to not vote. The second way is to say there is a reason why not to vote. These days I am feeling more of the second understanding of reasons why not to vote.
Over the years I have waffled. Sometimes I take the position of Dorothy Day, co-founder of the Catholic Worker who never did vote, feeling what really matters is what we do for others and an internal change of heart. I can usually pick the winners of any election, usually the person with the most money. Voting seems to be a major distraction from doing the right thing ourselves by leaving it to the politicians and corporations and special interests that control them. Look at all the persons who voted for our president who ran on the notion of ‘change’ only to see more war, a new nuclear bomb plant being built and a health care bill written by the insurance industries.
However, usually at the end I do go out to vote, if only for the least objectionable person. It is like when you feel like relaxing by watching TV and you look for the least objectionable program to watch. Also I feel, like many Americans, that it is my patriotic duty to vote and that it will make a difference. It is what ‘normal’ people do.
Since the death of my son I have realized more and more that in this country, as it is now, voting does not make a difference and is just another distraction, like the media blitz about the pastor wanting to burn Qur’ans in Florida. Sometimes it is good to turn the TV off and just do something else. So when I ask the question why not vote I am now asking why vote.
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