All throughout history, the masses have been programmed to think that if they want to change anything in this world, the democratic right to vote is their best solution. The premise is that people get the privilege of voting in representatives who will enact the kinds of legislation that their supporters want to see happen. In many ways, voting is put on a special pedestal as the defining symbol of freedom and justice in society. It almost comes across as sacred, with many people arguing that voting is the key to a healthy democracy and a vibrant social culture. Very few dare to talk bad about the citizen’s right to vote without facing some kind of social ramification. However, is voting really all it’s cracked up to be? I know that is very taboo to say, but the question should be asked whether voting even makes a difference in modern of politics. Are you a bad or uneducated person for not voting? Is it the only answer?
LOGIC:
The first place in which this concept appeals to most people’s minds is logic. It’s pretty easy to comprehend the initial logic behind the pointlessness of voting when you just look at the distinct level of corruption that takes place in government today. Decades of continued wealth inequality and power centralization don’t exactly offer any glimmers of hope that the democratic process is just, and represents the will of the people. Who does the government even represent these days? Researchers from Princeton University have attempted to produce answers using thorough data analysis aimed around the question, “Does the government represent the people?” Especially for a mainstream publication, the results are shocking, even to those more consciously awake.
If that wasn’t enough logic to point out the uselessness of voting in society today, just look at the last four presidents, two republicans (George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush) and two democrats (BillClinton and Barrack Obama), to see if their policies changed paths much. They all started imperialists wars over seas/committed massive war crimes; they all destroyed the value of the currency through terrible monetary policy; they all furthered the trend towards power centralization/wealth inequality; they all enacted laws to further government/police/spying power; and most importantly they all sold their country out for personal gains.
Some people want to act like the politicians are just doing their best, it’s the other teams fault, or claim it’s very complicated, but don’t be so naïve. The harsh reality is that a criminal network sits at the top of the pyramid, which has engulfed both the left and right side of politics to form one team of true power: Team Establishment. While people misplace the root causes of the problem by picking puppets in the phony left vs. right paradigm, it’s business as usual for the criminal cabal puppet masters behind the scenes. The masses don’t even know who or what they’re fighting against, resulting in little to no real resistance against the true problems. This has to change.
PSYCHOLOGICAL:
This is where it gets extremely tough for people. Logic is one hurdle to climb, but getting over the psychological and emotional aspect of not voting is another beast. Naturally, people want to view their country and its democratic process in a favorable light; therefore, it is a painful dose of reality to swallow when one figures out that they have been manipulated, their home doesn’t represent what they thought it did, and their vote never mattered. To make matters worse, society often looks down on those who do not vote as ungrateful, uneducated and unpatriotic. The combination of the two results in an inner egotistic pride to vote and an outer social isolation for failing to vote, both of which have devastating effects on the human psyche. Essentially it traps many people into a psychological box that the system has built for them, using pride, guilt and fear as the invisible chains that control them into thinking voting is the only solution for change.
Psychologically something is fundamentally wrong with people when they logically know the game is rigged, yet still choose to participate, as if the outcome makes any difference. Society is stuck in this game that is on a never-ending loop; still believing that this time voting is going to get them out of the loop and on a new and better path. It’s like constantly taking serious the outcome of a coin flip when in fact the coin is the same on both sides. The problem is not the coin flip, but instead the people giving it legitimacy by constantly participating in the flipping. Voting in a rigged game is what gives it legitimacy. If large masses of people simply didn’t vote, ceased to pay attention, and refused to obey the process, the rigged institutions would lose all credibility and quickly change or risk becoming obsolete. Some form of energy is needed to sustain corrupt systems, and inevitably the people are the direct source of fuel that keeps it running. Remove the participation and the game stops.
On the other hand, there are many people who logically see the corruption taking place, and as a result, check out of the political spectrum all together–pretending like it doesn’t exist or that they can’t do anything about it. This is no better or worse than those who continue to vote because one cannot stand still on a moving train. Both of these actions are the coward moves of people either deeply programmed by the state to comply or deeply in fear of the personal responsibility it requires to change society through measures outside the system. This fear and lack of personal responsibility runs rampant all over society and truly is the root cause of why nothing is changing.
This all culminates into the final psychological barrier, personal responsibility. No savior is coming to save the people; it is the people who will inevitably save themselves. It’s so easy to get emotionally attached to the idea of having a hero save the day or believing that it will all work itself out on its own, but this is nothing but pure naïvety. There is no doubt a psychological burden that is placed upon someone once they fully awaken to the reality of the current social system. It’s not exactly a pretty site to look at sometimes. Many people want to run away from this personal responsibility and find shelter in their personal bubbles, but this is our biggest problem. In reality, this personal responsibility should be fully embraced as a badge of honor. It is very similar to a superhero that has some natural powers and then realizes that he must use them proactively for good, instead of letting them go to waste or using them for purely selfish means. Once one transcends the psyche of being a victim and embraces the responsibility of being the change, only then can true and effective actions manifest.
ACTION:
This is where the biggest point should be made and it cannot be stressed enough. This is one truth that every citizen who wants to change society needs to understand:
NOT VOTING DOES NOT MEAN YOU ARE NOT POLITICALLY ACTIVE!
This is so important to understand because many people equate the civil disobedient act of not voting with the doing of nothing politically. When In fact, it should be the direct opposite; meaning the political system is so screwed up that all citizens have a personal responsibility to move outside the system and change it. This is a call to action that should be embraced so that truth will reign supreme and future generations can prosper. People need to get more directly politically active in order to manifest a system that works for the people, instead of pretending like voting for a third-party representative is changing anything. It’s time people understand that there are many political actions besides voting that can be far more powerful and bring about far more change than any type of vote.
Here are three concrete actions that people can take right now in order to change the system. Each one is a lot more politically active than checking off Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton in the 2016 ballot box.
1) Get involved at the local level or state level.
There are many strategies to bring about change, so the point here is not to say don’t ever vote, but more so about not participating in rigged games. The local and state governments are still salvageable, so getting thousands of people to get involved with their own state and community issues would be huge. If you don’t like your representatives and they’re unjust, then either disobey their legislation or run for office and change it yourself. If running for office isn’t your thing, start a community garden or community project that voluntarily aims to solve some of the local issues. If that isn’t your forte, maybe just attend your local city council meetings and rattle some cages like this guy here. Let them know you’re here and you’re not a pushover.
2) Practice agorism by operating outside the system.
As much as humanly possible, operate outside the corrupt aspects of the social system. This includes transferring your money outside ofcriminal banks, getting into other asset classes besides fiat currencies, not paying taxes, eating locally and organically, canceling your cable package, quitting jobs that are unethical, boycotting institutions that constantly demonstrate corruption, and stop giving your dollars to entities which you are against. The more energy we give to the system, the better it functions. Therefore, we must starve the beast and feed the light of systems in which we want to see manifest.
3) Speak out and spread knowledge.
It is not always the big actions which are the most important; sometimes it’s the culmination of many small individual actions which result in big changes. Getting the masses access to real knowledge is the most important part of the movement right now, so it’s important to seize every opportunity to speak out and spread information. The flow of information cannot be stopped if it is constantly being spread. Every conversation that sparks up, which embodies truth and real knowledge, aids in altering the narrative of the collective conversation. The more people begin to speak up, the harder the controllers of the system will find it is to hide. Their weak information and lies will not be able to hold up logically or psychologically once enough people awaken and speak truth.
To conclude, always remember that political action is not confined to voting. In fact, some of the most powerful political actions had nothing to do with voting. Martin Luther King or Mahatma Gandhi didn’t use voting to ignite a civil rights movement, just like we don’t need to rely on the 2016 presidential election to bring about real change. It’s time people realize change is not coming from the top down, it happens bottom up. So instead of worrying about the presidential election, challenge yourself to get out and take direct action towards change. It really is the only way a true paradigm shift in consciousness will ever come about. We have the power and we don’t need representatives to use it!