College of Political Knowledge

Subject:  Politics/Political Theory/Voting

Lecture #9

This is a re-post of one of my blog’s pages….I think it needs to be said again…..and again…

Tomorrow is the day…the day we vote for our senators and reps…the day we return the same caliber people to do the same caliber job for the country……a vicious cycle…..

I have given voting a lot of thought lately and my views have not changed over the years. I wanted to reassess my stand to see if that maybe something positive had happened and that I might be mistaken. I am Not!

With the general election approaching, ever so slowly, you would not realize it by the tap dancing candidates are doing. You would swear, if you just woke up that it was 2008 and the first of the primaries are long days away. Unfortunately, for your sensibilities it is a year away.

For decades we have been told that if you do not vote, then you have nothing to bitch about. Or that it is your civic duty to vote. We have been taught from the very first Civics class that it is all important to participate in the system. Do you agree? What has your participation accomplished? Do you truly feel that you are part of the system? Do you feel that you have gotten your money’s worth out of the slugs you have help put into office?

People need to ask themselves these questions, but only if they are willing to take a hard look at their own participation. If you vote, what do you vote for? The Party? Or possibly the person? How many really give two shakes in hell about the issues?

Alrighty then, with all that said let us take a look at the institution called voting.

Voting is a strong ideological tool. Having a majority of the adults vote in any given election is giving a legitimacy to the system that supposedly derives its power from those very people. The problem is that the people are not being represented, they are justifying the ruling elites who reinforce their legitimacy by claiming to be held to the highest standards. Basically, what most of these slimes are saying is that they through their representation are contributing to the material well being of the people. And for most Americans that is all they are looking for, is their material well being. That is one of the major contributors that lead to the War On Terror

The candidates that the American people are given as their future leaders are all popped from the same mold. Makes no difference on party affiliation; they are wealthy, self-serving and maniacal. And these are the people that we have to choose from at election time.

So you want proof? Look at the present administration; it is arrogant, self-serving and above all unconcerned with the will of the people. But yet it was returned for a second tour in power. Why? It played heavily on the fears of the people, which in turn, proved to be the best emotional issue to secure leadership through the mandate called votes.

The ordeal of voting is an illusion created by those in power, that there is actually a struggle for the positions in which the people decide the outcome. The only thing the American voter decides is which wealthy elitist will lead them. The entire system is programed so that only the wealthy elite can enter into the system and have the chance of leadership. It is acceptable because the voter, from childhood, has been lead to believe that is the way it must be. By the way, politics in the US is a monopoly, that only the wealthy can play.

Remember, voting does not determine policy, it only legitimizes those who actually control the state apparatus.

Voting is an illusion of popular rule, by the people, which is legitimized by popular elections. In other words, it is a scam, that the American people participate in freely and it is so well entrenched that they assume they have the power. They do not! All you need to do is just look at the last 20 yrs of politics–where were they ever in control?