OUR VIEW: Election can't give you a life (vote in poll)
Don't expect too much from an election
Welcome to election day. By tonight, some will sip champaign as others cry in their beer. Wednesday, life will go on as normal.
Today is important, but not so much as statists would have us believe. We’re told that voting is an obligation, and that any vote cast strengthens our fabled “democracy.” This is not true. Votes cast by the ill-informed do little to strengthen our community, and much to potentially harm it. When voters choose politicians who promise the most, rather than those who promise least, they compromise freedom.
We’re taught that elections choose leaders, which isn’t true at all. Elections choose public servants, who should have nominal roles in our lives — even in this age of big, intrusive government. The mayor and council should lack the power to enhance or diminish your life. Mostly, they should oversee a reasonable level of public safety, the efficient maintenance of streets, the sale of water and the sale of utilities. We should not ask for much more, nor should we expect it.
Voting is important, but it should not determine our destiny in a country established to keep government small. The American life should mostly consist of work, innovation, art, literature, friendship and love. For the most fortunate — for teachers, mentors and parents — it may include the procreation and cultivation of future generations.
We don’t need public servants to give us good lives. Politicians who understand this may promise and provide the least. They will ensure for you the greatest gift of all: Freedom to pursue life, liberty and happiness on your own.
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(Vote in poll to the right in red type. Must vote to see results. Thanks!)
