a little help?
I voted. I’m trying to be a responsible citizen despite a deepening sense of disillusionment with the electoral and political process of the United States.
I was tempted to think my vote didn’t matter until I realized that poor turnout is probably skewing the results in terms of obtaining a reliable representation of the will of the population. But even if everyone did vote, they might create far more governmental mess due to a deeper problem: voter ignorance.
I spent a couple hours total trying to research the candidates in the important races, but I am afraid my vote may have had a negative effect because I doubt researching helped me choose the best person. I don't think I had trustworthy information about the candidates or their goals. I just felt misinformed and a lot more cynical. I can’t trust the candidates to be honest about their remotely potentially negative aspects, nor can I trust their critics to be honest about anything. I know somebody's lying because people directly contradict each other. I just sat and read propaganda for those hours. For a few minutes, I became so cynical that I now comprehend Eric Blair a little more. The whole process seems so commercialized. Candidates do their best to sell themselves and even recruit large teams of people to help them sell themselves. There is no philosophical justification for their ideas in their election information, or even much more than a list of "hot issues." But even if they did have more substantial philosophies, I still wouldn’t know who to choose. I honestly don’t know what is best for society as a whole, or what makes an effective politician. Can any voter be well-informed without getting to know the candidates personally? Even then, you can't predict the future. The uncertainty frustrates me.
Then there's the problem of the practically two-party system. It's just not enough to express the range of political ideologies of the voters. I would like to vote because I want a candidate in office, not because I think they would do the least damage.
So I came up with the best of all possible worlds situation, where the US electoral process goes like this:
Qualified, intelligent individuals with well-developed philosophical positions on the relevant issues facing society recognize their leadership potential and decide to run for office. Equally intelligent individuals with the capacity for analyzing these well-developed philosophies study the candidates and choose the most qualified and most promising. The elected official then behaves in the most ethical and helpful way, accomplishing their goals to better society. The society, in recognition of the great service of the politicians, gratefully sends many thank-you cards. There are no advertisements or members of the press dishing dirt about people's private lives because it is the best of all possible worlds and all the candidates lived the most ethical of all possible lives (and no one else is interested in gossip, anyway). I thought that was how it was supposed to work. Oh well. As an uninformed voter, I failed the system.
That was silly. When I went to vote, I discovered a beautiful lake that I never knew existed, and only a short walk from my home, which made the entire trip profitable (in a mildly sarcastic way). A nice man (actually, I don't know whether he was nice or not - I just said it to be polite) handed me a sheet with the names of every Democratic candidate and some cards with their pictures (especially the good-looking ones). I was the only person there at that time, and I had all my forms of photo id and several letters with my current address, just in case. One of the ladies told me to put them away. All they asked was my name and signature, and then checked me off the list. I was surprised. Then I got my ballot, pulled out my list of the lucky winners, and voted. I voted for both Democrats and Republicans, and also left several blank. The blank ones were one of three situations: I couldn't tell a difference between the candidates; only one candidate up for election; or, I just didn't know. I was glad that I voted, but also reserved in my expectations about the real impact it would have on the entire world. (Perhaps global impact was a bit hopeful...) Anyway, after I went out, I handed the man outside back all the cards and pictures. He told me to keep them, but I said I had already voted. The next day I checked the results like I had entered the lottery, and looked at how I compared to other voters in my precinct and state. Unfortunately, in my opinion, they reelected the governor (who is under investigation... is it possible to have politicians immunized for corruption?). I hope I will not regret my votes, but in the end, I wanted to be actively involved, and so had to make a decision. Is that all one can ask?
I was tempted to think my vote didn’t matter until I realized that poor turnout is probably skewing the results in terms of obtaining a reliable representation of the will of the population. But even if everyone did vote, they might create far more governmental mess due to a deeper problem: voter ignorance.
I spent a couple hours total trying to research the candidates in the important races, but I am afraid my vote may have had a negative effect because I doubt researching helped me choose the best person. I don't think I had trustworthy information about the candidates or their goals. I just felt misinformed and a lot more cynical. I can’t trust the candidates to be honest about their remotely potentially negative aspects, nor can I trust their critics to be honest about anything. I know somebody's lying because people directly contradict each other. I just sat and read propaganda for those hours. For a few minutes, I became so cynical that I now comprehend Eric Blair a little more. The whole process seems so commercialized. Candidates do their best to sell themselves and even recruit large teams of people to help them sell themselves. There is no philosophical justification for their ideas in their election information, or even much more than a list of "hot issues." But even if they did have more substantial philosophies, I still wouldn’t know who to choose. I honestly don’t know what is best for society as a whole, or what makes an effective politician. Can any voter be well-informed without getting to know the candidates personally? Even then, you can't predict the future. The uncertainty frustrates me.
Then there's the problem of the practically two-party system. It's just not enough to express the range of political ideologies of the voters. I would like to vote because I want a candidate in office, not because I think they would do the least damage.
So I came up with the best of all possible worlds situation, where the US electoral process goes like this:
Qualified, intelligent individuals with well-developed philosophical positions on the relevant issues facing society recognize their leadership potential and decide to run for office. Equally intelligent individuals with the capacity for analyzing these well-developed philosophies study the candidates and choose the most qualified and most promising. The elected official then behaves in the most ethical and helpful way, accomplishing their goals to better society. The society, in recognition of the great service of the politicians, gratefully sends many thank-you cards. There are no advertisements or members of the press dishing dirt about people's private lives because it is the best of all possible worlds and all the candidates lived the most ethical of all possible lives (and no one else is interested in gossip, anyway). I thought that was how it was supposed to work. Oh well. As an uninformed voter, I failed the system.
That was silly. When I went to vote, I discovered a beautiful lake that I never knew existed, and only a short walk from my home, which made the entire trip profitable (in a mildly sarcastic way). A nice man (actually, I don't know whether he was nice or not - I just said it to be polite) handed me a sheet with the names of every Democratic candidate and some cards with their pictures (especially the good-looking ones). I was the only person there at that time, and I had all my forms of photo id and several letters with my current address, just in case. One of the ladies told me to put them away. All they asked was my name and signature, and then checked me off the list. I was surprised. Then I got my ballot, pulled out my list of the lucky winners, and voted. I voted for both Democrats and Republicans, and also left several blank. The blank ones were one of three situations: I couldn't tell a difference between the candidates; only one candidate up for election; or, I just didn't know. I was glad that I voted, but also reserved in my expectations about the real impact it would have on the entire world. (Perhaps global impact was a bit hopeful...) Anyway, after I went out, I handed the man outside back all the cards and pictures. He told me to keep them, but I said I had already voted. The next day I checked the results like I had entered the lottery, and looked at how I compared to other voters in my precinct and state. Unfortunately, in my opinion, they reelected the governor (who is under investigation... is it possible to have politicians immunized for corruption?). I hope I will not regret my votes, but in the end, I wanted to be actively involved, and so had to make a decision. Is that all one can ask?
posted by Keturah at 9:59 PM
5 comments
