Voting

So I've already decided that I will most likely vote in the upcoming presidential election even though I'm mistrustful of the whole shebang for various reasons:

1. I've never voted before in life so why not "try it out"
2. I've never seen a Black person make it this far in the primary elections and I can barely believe I'm witnessing it
3. I'm succumbing (somewhat) to peer pressure because too many people have treated me like a pariah when I explained that I didn't want to vote...though I should note that if peer pressure was the only motivator for me to vote, it wouldn't be enough to actually bring me to the polls. But in combination with the previous two reasons, it is enough
4. A small part of me is falling for Obama's rhetoric

However, I found interesting critiques of the electoral process of an anarchist website that vibed with me. Here's the first one I read:


As Decision 2004 approaches, the apathetic masses rage through the streets
Thursday, January 15 2004 @ 02:45 AM CST
Contributed by: Admin
Views: 2,091
Anarchist Opinion
Submitted by prole cat

As the official presidential election year approaches on the distant horizon, the jockeying of the candidates has begun. Bush stands unopposed, of course, but the Democratic hopefuls jostle and elbow to be first in line, to receive the coveted “front-runner” coronation at the hands of the media.

Politicos are well familiar with this American ritual. Much will be said and written, now and during the earliest primaries, about the relative (in)significance of the horse race so far in advance of the actual election.

At some point between now and November, 2004, another too-familiar American ritual will begin to be acted out, as the predictable litany of complaints are lodged against the American populace. The less-than-1-in-4 turnout of eligible American voters will be analyzed, and the causes mourned. On the editorial pages of newspapers across America the citizenry will be portrayed as too lazy, too apathetic to bother to stop by their local polling station and mark an X on a ballot. With great sanctimony, readers will be reminded of the blood that was shed to preserve the sacred right to select one’s leaders.

Rarely does anyone question this version of reality. It is a truism that only the most civically engaged will go to the trouble to vote, while those who don’t are a bunch of ignorant couch potatoes who are too engrossed in the latest episode of reality television to do their noble duty.

The mythology of a disengaged American citizenry is always mistaken. This time around, being presented in the midst of a continuing grassroots peace and global justice movement, it will be downright silly. In the context of 2004, the classical formulation of dignified public servants shabbily treated by self-absorbed multitudes will more resemble the tattered remnants of some traditional religious dogma that science has rendered laughable, than serious analysis. It will more resemble the doctrinaire intonations of some Marxist sect whose texts the sweep of history has left behind, than any keen observation of the realities of American social life. Yet in the face of all logic, the press will stick to the script.

Continued...