Strike The Root Blog

If You Don’t Vote, You Can’t Complain

Heard this one? I’ve heard it almost every time that I say I no longer vote. My answer so far has been, “Who would you vote for, Stalin or Hitler?” (Occasionally I’ll offer a softer comparison for a Republican, such as “Hillary or Tipper?” Or for a Democrat, “Bush or Cheney?”)

“That’s a ridiculous comparison” is their typical response. I explain that it’s how I view things, and insist that they have to vote for one. Otherwise, they can’t complain. Some people get the point.

Of course, most people then suggest that I should leave. “If you don’t like it go live elsewhere.”

I’m soliciting suggestions for a better response to the bogus notion of not being able to complain if you don’t vote.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 2nd, 2007 at 12:01 pm and is filed under non-voting, tyrants!. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

12 Responses to “If You Don’t Vote, You Can’t Complain”

ajab__ Says:
February 2nd, 2007 at 1:39 pm
I have read rebuttals to “if you don’t vote, you have no right to complain,” and I will see if I can replicate the arguments:

1. If you voted for the winner, who turns out to be a disappointment, you can’t complain because you approved of them to begin with and “sanctified” their office with your vote.

2. If you voted for the loser, you participated knowing full well that your candidate losing was a distinct possibility, else the elections were not “fair.” By voting, you gave your explicit approval to the system, so you have no right to complain.

3. The only time a voter can legitimately complain about the system is if everything is operating perfectly (an impossible result), in which case there would be no valid reason to complain. Conversely, if nothing is working perfectly (status quo), then no complaint is possible because voting is tacit approval of the status quo.

Thus, only non-voters — those who eschew the electoral political process — have a legitimate right to complain, but not about this person or that, only about the system itself.

What I find interesting about this gymnastic exercise in logic is that anarchy is a perfectly operating system from the standpoint of perfect liberty. There is no voting in an anarchic society, and thus, there would be no (political) complaining by virtue of there being no reason to complain and no expectation of any results from complaining.

I’m sure there’s a hole the size of a Mack truck that can be driven through my arguments, and I welcome all assistance in remedying these flaws.

James Greenberg
Tustin, CA
rettafontana Says:
February 2nd, 2007 at 6:42 pm
Some whack job tried to tell me that the war in Iraq was my fault because I didn’t vote (I’m sure she meant for Kerry.)
Angelo Mike Says:
February 3rd, 2007 at 12:58 am
Here’s my response: Why doesn’t the state leave? Why should it acquire everything it has from the production of others?
Jeff Langr Says:
February 3rd, 2007 at 11:50 am
I received a bit of enlightenment on this last night, while watching a South Park episode I’d not seen before. They were voting for school mascot, and the choices were between “giant dildo” and “turd sandwich.”
Angelo Mike Says:
February 3rd, 2007 at 6:23 pm
Dildo??? It was a giant douche and turd sandwich.
Robert Kaercher Says:
February 4th, 2007 at 12:27 am
It was indeed a giant douche. My very first piece for S-T-R was inspired by that very episode of South Park: http://www.strike-the-root.com/4/kaercher/kaercher1.html

I had an interesting conversation with a couple of college-age Democratic National Commitee drones during the campaign season that has just passed. They came to my front door wanting to register me to vote, and I basically told them that the Democrats and Republicans were merely two wings of the same party, as evidenced by the Democrats’ initial support for the Iraq War, the PATRIOT Act, etc. Therefore, I said, I no longer voted. Then one of the two young ladies (they couldn’t have been any more than 19 or 20) told me I should just leave.

I then told her she should get f*** of my porch and I shut the door in her face.
ajab__ Says:
February 4th, 2007 at 2:43 pm
I once read a Playboy Forum entry about a guy who “entertained” a young lady Jehovah’s Witness who knocked on his door. You should have done the same to your little Democrap callers. There’s more than one way to F*** the system!

George Carlin wrote, “When I hear someone saying there’s a political solution to a problem, I know I’m not dealing with a serious person.”
ajab__ Says:
February 4th, 2007 at 2:52 pm
Robert,

Great insight in your essay that I arrived at independently awhile back as well:

“Think about it: what would the Powers That Be do with themselves if half or more of the total ballots cast were marked for various minor party candidates, with no clear winner? Or better yet, what if every single eligible voter in the country simply did not show up at the polls? Or if at the most only a very small handful—say just a few thousand or so in the entire country—showed up? Just imagine all those befuddled senior citizens standing around at the polling places, munching on cookies to pass the time, listening to the crickets chirp.

What would the government do without knowing what is the “will of the people”? I suggest that it’s more than likely that they would use various methods to either force, coerce or trick you into going to the polls, impose stiff penalties for those who refused to vote, ban all minor parties and thus reveal once and for all that the insipid idea that “democracy” is what keeps us “free” is a bald-faced lie.”

I have seen it written that “if voting could change the system, it would be illegal.”

I understood not long after the corollary that “if NOT voting could change the system, it would be illegal.”

You are one of the only writers I have ever seen who grasped this reality.

It is simply a fact that there is no way to change the system by working within it. A fool’s errand. The ultimate in pig-singing lessons.
Jeff Langr Says:
February 5th, 2007 at 9:02 am
Oops, yes, it was a giant douche. Bad mis-typing. That was a Freudian slip, I suppose…
Jeff Langr Says:
February 5th, 2007 at 9:11 am
I think I like Angelo Mike’s suggestion so far.

“If you don’t believe in voting, why don’t you just move to another country.”
“No, why don’t YOU move.”

It’s childish (just like voting), and probably works well. I’m anxious to try it out.
livemike Says:
February 7th, 2007 at 2:21 pm
What I really loved about that episode was that after everyone saying how vital Stan’s vote was the final tally was one thousand four hundred and ten to 36. So Stan’s vote would count - if he could persuade 687 people to change their minds.
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If You Don’t Vote, You Can’t Complain

12 Responses to “If You Don’t Vote, You Can’t Complain”

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