To Vote or Not To Vote... Is That The Answer?

To vote or not to vote. That is the question. As the presidential primary season draws to a close, it is becoming increasingly obvious that we are not going to have a Kucinich, or a Dean, or a Nader in the mix. Once again we are going to be faced with the old "lesser of two evils" syndrome. At this point there will be a lot of voters who feel that there just isn't any good reason to vote. To those people I can only say, "Don't give up on us now."

I am not going to try to argue the virtues of John Kerry, because frankly, I am not terribly excited about him, nor do I know a lot about the man. We do know that Republicans and Democrats alike are pawns of corporate America to one degree or another. But, if Kerry winds up being the candidate, which looks likely at this point, we really don't know what kind of a president he will be. Will he make much of a difference, or end up being more of the same? The jury is out on this guy.

But, one thing we do know for sure... the jury is not out on George W. Bush. If we allow the election to go to George Bush we know exactly what we are getting, and four more years of this administration could spell disaster for America and the world. We just can't allow it.

Now, there are those who will argue that it's America's own karma coming back on it and that it is too late to save it from its own arrogance and greed. I'd be hard pressed to argue that point as well. We may very well be seeing the beginning of the end of America. If current fiscal policies continue, we could very well go bankrupt. It may be too late to save the environment. We may never get health care for those who need it. We may be headed for disaster no matter who is elected president.

And, finally, there are those who think that disaster is the only thing that will wake America up anyway. Might as well just put Bush back in and let it all fall apart.

And, that is where we part ways. Call me a hopeless idealist, but I am not willing to give up without a fight. Maybe America never was the noble nation that we were taught about in school. Maybe it never really did live up to the ideals of the Bill of Rights and the Constitution. But a lot of us, however naive, still happen to believe in those things. Indeed, most of us, who served in the military, thought that's what we were fighting for! So, if it was all a lie, then I have a new fight... right here in America... to make her into the country she is supposed to be. The idea America was founded on was a good one. If it did not materialize we have only ourselves to blame.

So, here's the bottom line. If we vote we may not get what we want, but we know exactly what we'll get if we don't vote, and it doesn't look pretty! So, the way I see it, we have nothing to lose by voting. Maybe nothing will change, or maybe Kerry will turn out to be a fighter and really go after those corporations. Maybe he will make some difference in the environment. Maybe he'll surprise us and have some real integrity. We know that George Bush does not. So, to me it's a no-brainer. VOTE.

Meanwhile, we need to realize that we can't put all our eggs into one basket. Believing that the presidential election is the be all and end all of this country is one of the biggest pipe dreams going. We still have to continue organizing in our communities, writing letters-to-the-editor, working for various charitable organizations, lobbying and writing our congress people, etc. The recent FCC rulings debate should teach us that people do make a difference. Congress would never have challenged the FCC if there wasn't such a huge outcry by the populace. We may still lose that particular debate, but we have shown our power and we will continue to fight. Recently, the Navy agreed to cut back its use of deadly sonar which was killing whales. There is a lot more to do, but it would not have happened at all if the people had not spoken up. One step at a time. These are the things that will save America and the world.

I still have faith. I believe "we the people" can prevail. It may take another civil war for all I know, but sitting back and saying, "Oh, well, I just won't vote." is a cop out. You have nothing to gain, by not voting, even if it is for "the lesser of two evils." But we certainly do have a lot to lose by not voting. You can count on it.

Rob Moitoza
Musician, U.S. Navy veteran, Activist

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Once again that political extravaganza called the presidential elections is sweeping the country with its first act, "The Primaries," dominating the airwaves and news pages. With this show we get voting hyped as the ultimate act of citizenship, which since the last election may be in question as our civil rights and privileges are being stripped away by Ashcroft's brown-shirts under the provisions of the PATRIOT Act. As was the case in past elections, I find myself explaining to people why I don't vote and, occasionally, I end up in a heated debate on the topic. Through these exchanges, though, I have a better understanding of the process that led me to choose not to vote. It was a choice that first grew out of an act of defiance and then developed into a more conscious decision, one based on an understanding of the purpose and role of the electoral process in this country. It is a choice that I feel we all need to make, particularly in these times, not because of what voting can accomplish but because of what not voting could accomplish.

For me, the road to not voting began when I first heard about the Electoral College, long after I learned about the right and responsibility of voting once you turn twenty-one. It was a bit of a shock to then learn that the president and vice president were chosen by something called the Electoral College, not by the people. I later learned that the process of the Electoral College has its roots in the Centurial Assembly system of the Roman Empire. What was more ironic to learn was how similar it is to how the College of Cardinals in the Roman Catholic Church selects the Pope, for it was in catholic school where I first heard about the Electoral College (EC). The nuns could not easily explain why the EC existed or how it worked and instead told us the voting was important and our vote counted. All questions were brushed away with what I have later come to call the "Never mind the man behind the curtain" answer. The existence of the EC began to bug me.

The next chink in the electoral facade came while I was in the military, I turned twenty-one and was eligible to vote the year of a presidential election. Originally, I had intended to vote and had even registered to do so. However as the election campaign unfolded, I was having a hard time trying to decide which candidate to vote for. I wasn't impressed by either and didn't yet know how to think outside the two-party system box. Things might have turned out very different if my chief hadn't decided to actively encourage everyone to vote. When I expressed my doubts to him-that I saw no difference between either candidate, they were both bad, so why vote? -he told me in no uncertain terms that it was my privilege, duty and obligation to vote. He also told me that if I didn't like either candidate, I should pick the lesser of two evils. Now I was not really religious and certainly wasn't caught up in the good vs. evil thing, but the idea of picking any evil let alone the lesser of two just didn't sit right with me and I told him so. Our subsequent "discussion" failed to convince me that picking the lesser evil was correct and caused me to further question a system where the only choice is evil. On top of this, the idea of being told, in a democracy, that I had to vote seemed undemocratic. My attempt to point out this contradiction to the chief was side tracked by his labeling me as a "commie lover" and making me the source of all of this country's problems. In the years leading up to my twenty-first birthday, I had been encouraged to build two rights as very important come that day: the right to legally drink and the right to vote. Since I had been drinking illegally for several years, thanks in large part to the military, the thought of not drinking after I turned twenty-one was so far gone it was non-existent. The thought of not voting hadn't been too far behind. In the end, I did not vote in that election.

By the next presidential election, an important change had taken place- I had learned about imperialism. With this new understanding came a different way of looking at what out country was doing, not only with the military around the world, but with the police here at home. I also began to see my enlistment, in fact any and all enlistments, in a whole new way- as a participant in a state sanctioned terrorist organization whose job is enforcing and expanding the imperialist interests of the U.S. capitalists around the world. Whether one pulls the trigger or pushes the papers, each is part of an organization responsible for more terror, death and destruction than any previous military in history. This was not the somewhat glorious image I had when I had enlisted.

It was also during this time that I learned more about the role of the electoral process in keeping us involved, confused and subdued. There are several aspects of the electoral process that work together to maintain the illusion and accomplish its true purpose. First is the two-party system, which gives the appearance of a wide political spectrum involving the entire population, but which really represents the disagreements within the capitalist class over how to maintain control of the masses and how to continue the exploitation in the search for profit. In one sense, the differences between the two parties represents the squabbling within a family, there is more unity than disagreement. If one doubts this lack of any real disagreement between the democrats and republicans needs only to look at the slow shuffle to the right the democrats are making in response to Bush's most fascist of actions like the PATRIOT Act and the war against Iraq. Next aspect of the illusion is the dictum that every vote counts. While people in the south, particularly African-Americans, have know for some time that their vote, if they are ever allowed to vote, is often missing from the final tally, the 2000 election's vote counting in Florida should have dispelled the notion for the rest of us. The last part of the illusion I want to address is the fiction of one person, one vote. This is related to the every vote mantra but has its own twist. One has been the practice of filling the voters rolls with names of the deceased and then paying someone to vote for them. More importantly, this completely ignores the real influencer of the electoral process, money. We are to believe that my working stiff vote can influence the outcome as much as Bush's $200 million campaign fund. I think not. This whole process has been designed to lead people inside with the belief that they can make a difference, keep them busy and confused running in circles- subdued.

Which leads to the kicker-that voting is how we put a stamp of approval on their system. It is what gives them their glove of legitimacy covering their military fist and keeps them on top at a cost to the rest of us. Giving their electoral process a vote of "bogus" by not voting will accomplish more to change the way things are than countless votes for any candidate their system has to offer.

Take charge of your future. Walk over and pull back the curtain and tell the man behind it: No More!

Ian Antius
U.S. Navy veteran, Anti-imperialist