Are there ever any justifiable reasons to vote?

Question

Whether it be for leaders or to pass laws, it doesn't matter. Are there at any point exemptions that voting is okay to do or not?

Comments

it's funny to me how a lot of the very liberal people I know are getting all excited about bernie sanders, i guess because he vociferously opposes the extreme wealth inequality of the current system. However, after pondering whether I should vote for him or not, I've realized any change under him would be rather illusive as well. He will probably institute a few welfare oriented reforms (which I don't oppose), but I think he won't have the spine or the ability to oppose any of the authoritarian expansions of the government (NSA spying, military expenditure, police expenditure)...in fact, I can easily imagine him supporting cop-cams to supposably curb police violence..... but that would just empower the state to further fuck with people! He would undoutably be just as dissapointing as Barack Obama from a radical left perspective, and if we are to be absolute opponents to authoritarian rule, I don't think we would want a radical leftist government.

the 30 minutes it would take to vote isn't even worth the time you could spend catching up on errands....

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"and if we are to be absolute opponents to authoritarian rule, I don't think we would want a radical leftist government."

i want NO government, period. every radical leftist government that ever took/got power was proven to be absolute enemies of actual anarchists. as they should be - they are statists. 

but i hear you about bernie. the liberal left is all gung-ho, and i probably would be too, if i was a liberal/progressive. thing is, nobody that would ever really enact radical change could ever be elected in this country. if bernie makes it too far in this campaign, he will come up against serious trouble - quite possibly assassination. that's my take. or, i guess it is just as likely that he will simply adapt his rhetoric, get into office, and like clinton and obama, greatly disappoint everyone naive enough to believe a fucking politician (regardless of stripe).

see why they pay me the big bucks as a political analyst?  lol!

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@MrE, I'm confused on what you mean by "the right thing to do?" In similar fashion to funky@'s response to you. If you want to vote, then vote. If not, don't.

@rs666 Liberals/progressives love the Bernie and his populist rhetoric. That's all it is.

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any rate, I only comment cause I perceive any more welfare benefits and limits on police power as being good things. However, I'm so hateful of the whole employment/legal/political process that I'm going to try to be as little of a part of it that I can be, it's better for your health

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I don't know much about him as I don't really pay attention. The one thing I assume is he's probably not being truthful.

Answer 1

I am pretty certain I can say that I am never going to vote in good faith again (ie - to pass laws or elect leaders), but I won't absolutely say there might not be times where I would choose to use voting as an intentional sabotaging of the system. I can't think of an example that I have actually seen/lived through that would be amusing enough for me to actually register to vote, but I imagine that there could be an argument made for it. To be clear this argument I am referring to is more along the lines of IRL trolling than one of using the system while also working from outside or the lesser of two evils arguments (what I think of as the typical activist arguments for continuing to vote).

Answer 2

like ingrate, i seriously doubt i would ever vote (again). i find it useless, "corrupt", ineffective (except in supporting and perpetuating the very system i want gone), and completely contrary to the autonomy that i desire.

however... if a self-proclaimed anarchist chose to vote for a local measure/referendum that directly impacted them, and they had some (non-delusional) reason to think that passing said measure would actually result in a desired change, then i might not completely ridicule them. 

i have no problem using the system i despise as a tool to sabotage or destroy it. i just cannot imagine a scenario where voting would actually accomplish that (or anything even close). but (also like ingrate) if i ever saw such an opportunity, i would almost certainly take advantage.

problem is, this socio-economic-political system - democrapitalism - does a far better job of ensuring its own survival than humanity itself does. that is why i cannot imagine it providing the means - through voting particularly - to destroy itself. 

see everything as a potential tool, choose your tools carefully, and use them well.

Comments

^this. Voting is currently a tool I find not only odious and deplorable (I would say the same of automobiles and fiber optics), but for now, it is a thing that I can reasonably opt out of. If using a thing I hated made sense, why not use it? So long as it is effective, there is nothing to lose but a false sense of purity.

Still, that is a far cry from the reality most of us who post and comment and lurk on this sight live.