To those paying attention it has become apparent that our elections, just like the elections of almost every other “civilized” country in the world, are rigged. From the Florida voter fraud in 2000, to the blatant 2012 rule change for delegates in the Republican Party against Ron Paul, to the irrefutable election rigging orchestrated by Clinton's Democratic National Committee this summer, voting has been exposed as a pacification of American citizens in order to further the government’s own agenda.

There is a plethora of evidence which confirms that our vote does not count, and while a few years ago people could’ve used some mental gymnastics about how “it works differently in the land of the free”, no rational person can still claim that today. Furthermore, the popular vote isn’t even considered by the rules set up in our own Constitution.

For the Presidential position specifically, the Electoral College uses a winner-takes-all method of voting in each state so one that is dominated by Republicans will almost always go to the Republican candidate and vice versa for Democratic States. This means that the individual vote in those states is basically worthless. If that’s not enough, there are 21 states where the delegates are completely unbound and can actually vote for whatever candidate they want, despite the popular vote. To boot, a NY Times article this summer published a great little iconographic, showing that statistically only 41% of Americans typically vote in the general election. So even if our vote counted, most Americans do not participate in the process at all due to various reasons.

Now that we know, what does that change?

It’s incredibly telling how broken the “democratic” voting system is when a few loud or rich voices can influence federal policies that should be State’s rights issues to begin with. Examples include marriage, abortion, and bathroom laws. On the other hand, we also have State laws that overreach into the daily lives of Americans. Pennsylvania just passed a 40% tax on vape products under the guise of safety (we all know it’s to keep tobacco corporations happy), and Massachusetts is stealing money from ride-sharing companies to subsidize their competitors: the taxis.

Yet, even with all of this mounting evidence, we continue to buy into the great charade of casting our voice into the black hole that is government. And there lies the paradox. If voting does not actually yield results, should those of us who know even bother convincing others to vote for change? Aren’t we just participating in theater? I am still learning the full implications of anarchism, but for now, I remain a libertarian and this year even I got caught up in the excitement of a grassroots liberty revolution. I wasn’t the only one either; Anarcho-capitalists, minarchists, other libertarians, and even people from the 2 major parties supported Austin Petersen in his Presidential bid. Most of these people understand that voting is a futile act, but after the Libertarian Convention many of us are still trying to support the only sane choice for the position – Gary Johnson. While not perfect, he is an alternative option that freedom fighters can present to the masses, while in our hearts we know that it’s not really a competition at all – just an illusion.

Is this what Denial feels like?

The great paradox of voting is present within us as we battle between showing the full truth and convincing the masses who still believe in voting that there are other choices out there. We fight to have more parties represented in the debates, but we know that in the end it is not up to us. It is not even up to the delegates who actually cast the final votes. The argument of the “wasted vote” is constantly challenged, yet the vote only exists in theory.

The insanity continues because the majority cannot even see that this is how our government is structured. Before we can present ideas of private road ownership or market driven public services, we need to fully accept that political change cannot happen in this country until we all come together and amend the process. Even then, it is hard to imagine that we can elect many people who care about the country enough to stand against the status quo and fight for our rights. For now, there are only a few state representatives that are taking that risk.

First, we must accept the truth.

Then, we can start working on solutions. I am seeing more and more proposals to utilize the power of blockchain technology for the way we cast our votes. Follow My Vote presents one solution. The proposal is a simple voter verification system with a blockchain based ballot box that protects privacy while utilizing transparency so anyone can see the results. Maybe, once the actual process is given back to the people, we can address all the other problems that a democracy presents us with, and little by little we can move towards a freer world. At least we can start by admitting what’s really going on to ourselves and then educating those who are in our social circles.