The right to protest is attractive, from voicing a personal aggravation to addressing larger issues facing the country of one's residence. Occupy Wall Street has been a kind of public protest that hasn't been seen on any kind of scale here in the United States for forty years. It's success still remains to be judged ; but actual success or not it's a beginning - or perhaps better called a reminder, that We The People have the right to speak up and be seen and heard by those we've elected to represent us.
I've been thinking about something. Our right to vote is a precious privilege and we should exercise it as responsible citizens. However..if you took Civics class in high school - and had a decent teacher and were paying attention - then you've probably got an average grasp of our political system here in the U.S. We vote : for ballot initiatives, for local offices, state representatives, a variety of subjects are found at the voter's booth. And we should have opinions and should express them through voting our conscience as is our right.
But the presidential election held every four years is a different matter. Your Civics class experience - if you were paying attention - will have explained to you how ours works. There are actually two elections taking place on that Tuesday of November in an election year ; the votes cast by the Electoral College and the votes cast by the voting public. This 'split' accounts for the importance of 'taking a state' - a phrase you'll hear often on election day coverage by the media, this means that the candidate has 'carried' (won) the EC votes for that state. Then there is the popular vote ; the votes placed by the citizenry. Of these two systems of voting, only the EC votes actually count, those in the EC are expected to cast their votes to represent their state/constituents. Which is why the citizens' votes are the 'popular vote' - denoting the candidate that is popular with the people. More often than not these two votes have the same result. But it is possible and has happened in our history that these two votes disagreed, with the popular vote electing one candidate, the EC electing the other. And the EC vote is the one that counts.
The citizens of the United States are told to vote their desires for the direction and operation of this country - and many of us think that voting our choice for the highest office of this country is the best way of expressing that desire. Which is a good thing - until our vote disagrees with that of the EC - because the votes cast by the Electoral College win. Still, we cast our popular vote, many of us feel guilty if we don't.
And we gain what? Another politician - of whatever stripe - on the Hill.
In light of the spirit of OWS I asked myself.. what if a presidential election was held - and no one came? To this point casting our votes - nor anything else we've tried - seems to be getting proper attention. So I find myself wondering.. if the voting public fails to attend the booths on November 06, 2012.. would our elected officials notice? Would it come to their attention that We The People are pretty unhappy with their performances? Perhaps coupled with the beginning that we've made with Occupy Wall Street they might. I think they would. In fact I think that such a protest by We The People might actually scare more than a few of them out of their complacency, might demonstrate to them that we are quite serious.
A sort of reverse protest. Since our vote doesn't actually elect our president, by boycotting the voting booths on November 06 2012 we'd be - I think - registering a very clear message of discontent. A message that might finally have our elected officials asking themselves if we'd simply thrown up our hands and given up.. or if, with OWS in recent memory, We The People might be preparing to stop talking to them and take a more active approach.. Boycotting the voting booth could be an even more important action than OWS.
Occupying our homes on that day rather than property we could be forced off of.
Simple. Legal. Glaringly obvious that something is up.
I do believe they would pay attention. If no one came..
TIP:
Enter the amount, and click "Tip" to submit!
roundgrandma
Scylla the Rock
Keka
koshersalaami
Thoth
scanner
Salon.com
Comments
A truism, surely and much more complicated than that-- but that said, I also agree that a better way to pick a president would be to hold a random lottery the way they do to choose juries- Not to say that is good, but could we really do much worse than we have?
That said there is a blog at
http://open.salon.com/blog/philbert_desanex/2011/12/01/bad_faith
That i would like your opinion on-I invite you to read and comment on a "small town" take on controlling your representatives. The country (and world) get smaller in terms of ease of communication every day.
Emma Goldman.
Each state must provide the paperwork necessary to be a candidate to all potential candidates - free of charge. In most states to get someone on the ballot as a candidate requires a nominating petition with a certain percentage of the total number of ballots cast in the last election. *Grins evilly*
Run candidates named "NONE OF THE ABOVE" in the elections. THAT would be a TRUE "grass roots" statement with regard to our political process as it currently stands... and scares the living hell out of DC. *Grins more evilly*
Campaign advertising can go along the lines of:
"Tired of business as usual in Washington DC? Vote NONE OF THE ABOVE"
"Does the constant fighting between the parties sicken you? Vote NONE OF THE ABOVE"
:D
I've long wondered why there's not already an option for something like this included in some manner on ballots, from local through state and presidential. It would be nice if along side *every* line there was a box titled FAIL ..
John AB, you've nailed the thing - we seem to have become aware of the fact that the control of money is at the bottom of it all - now if we can just get our collective act together and figure out how best to address the problem at it's root.
Appreciate all of the comments :). I'm hoping that if OWS did nothing else it is at least signaling that our public apathy is fading in favor of attention.
of American history
and held shit like Voting to be sacred.
he woulda given you a tongue lashing.
me? i'm with you.
i been voting for almost 25 yrs now & all i get is
" Another politician - of whatever stripe - on the Hill. "
Then the audacity of hope turns into
to the paucity of despairing disappointment.
Then they gear up after a bit for yet another damn election.