After many years of political disappointment, more progressives, liberals and conservatives – and certainly moderates and independents – know in their hearts that voting for Democrats or Republicans is a waste. Just imagine if voter turnout was cut to 25 percent or less! Let the whole world see Americans boycotting a broken and corrupt political system and rejecting what has become a delusional democracy. To keep voting in an unjust political system makes us willing political slaves that the rich and powerful elites exploit.
Just leaving the major parties is not good enough and, besides, most Americans are not party members. We need a bolder strategy. We must humiliate the political elites in both major parties and the corporate interests that support both of them. We can send a shock wave throughout the political establishment by not voting in the 2008 presidential election.
There will be negative, defensive knee-jerk reactions to this audacious strategy. Let’s examine them:
Many will think that taking such action violates our responsibility as citizens. But taking that responsibility seriously as engaged citizens in the Jeffersonian sense must reflect that there is still a valid contract between citizens and their government. When we vote we have the right to a political system that respects we the people and gives us an authentic representative democracy. We have a right to a constitutional republic operating under the rule of law. But we have elected representatives that no longer have the public interest as their primary commitment, nor truly honor and respect our Constitution.
They have been corrupted by corporate and other special interests that fund their campaigns to get the laws, loopholes and largesse they want. They have been corrupted by power and the perks of office. They are political cowards and mostly intellectual midgets. The two major parties have a stranglehold on our political system that no longer merits our participation in their crooked game. Political parties are not part of our Constitution and the two-party duopoly has demonstrated that both Democrats and Republicans put their own interests above those of we the people, our nation and our democracy. We cannot vote our way out of our current, dreadful political system.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - flowerguerrilla
I think you're so right! I met a group of anarachist collectivists last night - educated, bright YOUNG kids who see our only hope of survival is as collectives. Lovely idea. Small rural communities, in harmony with nature..Boycott the corporations Purchase CITGO gas, not Mobil/Exxon, etc. Buy secondhand or FairTrade / non-sweatshop. Reuse. recycle. I'm learning to live on less, and becoming a hippie Martha Stewart!
Last Resort, i.e., contingency plan - Europe or South America!
2 - gonzo marx
well now..it was Bob Novak himself who said he liked it better when people don't vote in large turnouts...then the motivated base wins
sorry, i can Understand the frustration, but not voting is NO answer, imo
do what the Founders did...run yourself, or find and support viable candidates...even if they lose at first
but start at the beginning, take back the School Boards and town Councils with 3rd Party or Independent candidates...regular people, not professional class politicos
with the Net for organization and dissemination of Information such is possible
a MUCH better solution than fucking up the Constitution itself with trying for an Article 5 convention, imo
your mileage may vary...
Excelsior?
3 - Doug
Don't waste your vote -- cast it for Ron Paul.
Half of the population has already given up on voting, but that doesn't stop politicians from claiming "mandates" when they get 51% of the 50% who do vote.
Stop being a defeatist and join the thousands of us who are doing everything we can to help Ron Paul win. He just raised a million dollars in six days, so not everyone is giving up. He has 49,000 volunteers in local Meetup groups -- more than the rest of the candidates combined.
Turnout in the primaries is historically very low -- 15 or 20%. A dedicated group could nominate a decent candidate for a change, especially with 9 pro-war Republicans splitting the anti-Ron Paul vote.
Think about, it and register Republican. But do it fast -- the primaries are earlier than ever this time.
4 - Adam
Ron Paul has as much chance of winning the GOP nomination as Kucinich the Democrat nomination?
Absolutely absurd.
Paul has raised millions and has active campaigns in every state. Kucinich is a drop in the bucket compared with the Paul campaign.
Democrats overwhelmingly favor Hillary. Republicans overwhelmingly favor "undecided."
Paul offers conservatives the opportunity to take their party back from the neocons. Liberals have yet to figure out that their party needs to be taken back.
A cursory glance at the Ron Paul campaign clearly shows it has a far better (even reasonable) chance of winning the nomination. Kucinich does not.
5 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Trying to elect one man to fix a corrupt system is an exercise in futility, not dissimilar to a boy putting his finger in a dike to stop it from bursting. Those who control the money supply in America and its energy supply will not allow that kind of change. They will not allow themselves to be dethroned without a violent struggle. They have worked too hard to attain the pinnacle of power they have and a mere election is not something they will respect, even if it does take place. Ron Paul may seem to be what the doctor ordered - or not, but the system is not based on the politicians; it is based on the oil and banking establishment. So long as it has control, it makes no difference who you elect, or who you seek to elect.
The oil and banking establishment must be destroyed - executed and liquidated are probably more appropriate words - before the liberties Americans think they enjoy will even begin to be secured in a hostile world.
Frankly, I do not think most of the readers of Blogcritics have the imagination or the guts to think that way. Most of the few who do probably have so visceral a hatred for the United States as to express more little more than the hope that it gets flushed down the toilet.
For me, unfortunately, the fall of the United States is what is most beneficial; its fall will drag down most nations and peoples who think they would benefit by that fall - the Europeans, the Russians, the Chinese, the Arabs and last but not least, the Latin Americans.
My bets are on that fall, in conditions that will be so chaotic as to be unreadable by the average person.
6 - Brad Linzy, Evansville, IN
Gee thanks! I don't know what I would have done without another oracle telling me who can and cannot win an election in this country!
Yay for fortune tellers! This means we never have to go vote again! We can just watch the news and let them tell us who's going to win. Better yet...let's just skip the nonsense and crown a King and get it over with, shall we?
I don't think I need to resort to personal attacks on the author of this post. I believe they can be well inferred.
7 - Brad Linzy, Evansville, IN
All that said, I agree with you that our elections are being rigged and we need to go back to paper ballots.
You want to start firing the first real shots in a civil war over voting transparency, I'll be right behind you. It's about as good a reason as any. But if you don't believe the voting system is on the level, yet you do nothing beyond writing internet articles and calling for a boycott of the vote, which is about the dumbest thing I've ever heard of, then I cannot really respect that.
Sounds very juvenile to me. Either you're willing to die for something or you're not. Die for your Republic or get off the soapbox. Boycotting the vote is about the most passive aggressive "activism" I've ever heard of.
8 - Brad Linzy, Evansville, IN
Soooo... This is also coming from the same guy who wants to "make voting compulsory"?
Which is it? Do you want compulsory voting or a boycott of voting... Because it seems to me that a compulsory voting law would pretty much undermine your right to boycott a vote, wouldn't it?
That was a rhetorical question. I don't expect you to answer it. The would require historical knowledge of what it means to live in a Constitutional Republic.
Delusional Democracy
by Joel S. Hirschhorn
Does What No Other Book Has Done!
A number of electoral reforms are necessary to rescue American democracy:
8. Make voting compulsory after other reforms
9 - troll
...the boycott is one of the few non-violent tools of political dissent open to our citizens and I am hopeful that Joel's thoughts reflect a growing undercurrent
he and I make 2 - the movement is growing:
boycott federal elections
10 - Joel S. Hirschhorn
Dear Brad, No hypocrisy from me: I still support mandatory voting; BUT, if you actually read my article you will understand that before we make a number of electoral reforms we must FIRST destroy the corrupt political system we now suffer from; after systemic political reform is achieved through NOT voting we can then work to maximize voter turnout, because only then can we justify voting!
11 - matt c
VOTE FOR PAUL in the PRIMARY!
Then, if he does not win the Republican Nod, YOU CAN SKIP YOUR NOVEMBER VOTE as protest (Cause that's the one the world is watching).
SO A PRIMARY VOTE FOR PAUL! THEN A GENERAL ELECTION VOTE for NO ONE at all! (Assuming there is no PAUL!!!)
The world is watching and hoping for RON PAUL!
12 - moonraven
I haven't voted since 1984--when I wrote in Jese Jackson.
13 - Lee Richards
Most of us seem to agree with your frustrations, but some of us can't support your suggestions.
Why vote?
1. There will be elections whether you vote or not. Why let those who vote and interest groups you oppose make all the decisions and control your future?
2. Tax money will be collected from you and spent by those elected. Do you want no say in who has that power?
3. Many elections ARE decided by a very small number of votes per precinct. Even if there's only a tiny difference between candidates, it may become a big difference later after one of them is elected.
4. Much more than just candidates are voted on: taxes, bond issues, equal rights, energy policy, gun control, marriage, gambling, smoking, etc., etc. Don't those issues matter enough to have your say about?
5. Keeping our freedoms by doing nothing, dropping out, or "partying" on election day won't work, if history is to be believed; has it ever, anywhere?
14 - moonraven
Why vote--unless you vote for the status quo, they don't count your vote.
They doon't allow folks of color to vote because they have a history of voting against the status quo.
No absentee ballots are ever counted.
15 - JustOneMan
I agree...all the Dumbocrats, moveon.org followers and other assorted left-wing whale shit should boycott this election cycle!
This way we can get on with the real matters at hand and stop listening to their bullshit for at least the next four to six years....
Hey look at the bright side the lefy wing idiots will prove your point and maybe we can get back on track with killing the bad guys and growing the economy...
JOM
16 - Dr Dreadful
I too don't think not voting is the answer. On the contrary, it's voter apathy that has turned many of your elected representatives into the corrupt, complacent bastards they are.
The problem with the modern democratic system is the perception that personal participation in the process ends with the election. Which is, of course, missing the point. By casting a vote, you're delegating someone to carry out your wishes in Washington for a predetermined amount of time. Your responsibility in democracy has only just begun.
What this boils down to is that you need to continually make sure to remind your congressman that he was sent to Washington to represent you, not himself. Tell him, "I voted for you, you know." But mean, "Please observe these bolt cutters positioned just above your testicles."
17 - Matthew T. Sussman
I'm with Gonzo -- let's see Hirschhorn run for something, rather than advocate a standard of inaction. He's certainly got ideas, and he wants people to do something. He's a candidate, and doesn't know it yet.
18 - moonraven
Doc,
Your congresspeople are stealing your tax dollars and stuffing their pockets with bribes and kickbacks as fast as they can so that they do not have to give a shit whether you re-elect them or not.
19 - gonzo marx
JoM in #15 sez - "Hey look at the bright side the lefy wing idiots will prove your point and maybe we can get back on track with killing the bad guys and growing the economy..."
like that worked out so well from 2000 - 2006
spare me, ok?
the debt, deficit, pre-emptive invasion of Iraq, Patriot Act, warrantless wiretapping, Terri Schiavo fiasco...
on and on
looks like the GOP completely fucked up when they ran it all..and i have thoughts that the Dems would do any better with single party control
a divided government, let them fight it out and compromise...best we can hope for, imo
Excelsior?
20 - justoneman
gee gonzo...you mean the initiatives the dumbocrats voted for or the initiatives they cant get enough support for...
Please boycott the election there already too many left wing disenfranchised idiots make it easy on the rest of us..
JOM
21 - Dr Dreadful
They're not my congresspeople, MR. I just live here.
I am a citizen of a democracy though.
Perhaps because it's a much smaller country with a more intimate political setting, politicians in Britain do seem often to be more closely attuned to their constituents.
That's not to say there isn't any arrogance or graft, but between the voters and the media most transgressors pretty quickly start buckling under the heat they get for it. For a case in point, take a look at this Wikipedia article about the horrendous Hamiltons.
22 - Dave Nalle
Which is it? Do you want compulsory voting or a boycott of voting...
I believe he wants a compulsory boycott of voting. That way he and his small number of lunatic conspiracy freak compatriots can take over the government and make wearing tinfoil hats compulsory.
Dave
23 - Dr Dreadful
After his compulsory boycott of voting achieves its goals, he will then organize a boycott of compulsory voting.
Where will it all end?
:-p
24 - Joel S. Hirschhorn
To Dave Nalle and his merry band of mental midgets: there is no contradiction between wanting to reform our political system FIRST by means of a voter boycott and then once the system becomes reasonably honest work to maximize voter turnout through, among other means, making voting mandatory (also making Election Day a national holiday, etc). Our current delusional democracy does not merit participation through voting, and anyone who thinks that letting your congressmen and senators know what you want and favor has any impact is truly delusional - only the ones with big money count with our MISrepresentatives. I am not a Dem or Repub but someone that does not waste a lot of time on sites like this and knows how to objectively evaluate political reality and strive for strategies to return true democracy within our constitutional republic framework. If we could measure the IQ of websites that foster so much empty-headed b.s. the value for this site would be in the single digits.... Those who keep voting for Dems or Repubs certainly deserve the government they get, but not the rest of us.
25 - Dr Dreadful
Joel claims:
I am [...] someone that does not waste a lot of time on sites like this...
Huh???
[checks byline at top of quite lengthy article, breaks fourth wall, looks directly into camera]
Who's delusional?