Voting...by choosing not to vote.

Everywhere you turn, the self-righteous are telling us that we simply MUST
vote, that choosing not to do so is some sort of personal failure and moral
wrong.  There's another way to view this.

Those who choose not to vote are sending the message "we think that our vote
doesn't matter".  And who can blame them?  When the House incumbents get
reelected by over 98%, is there really any chance?  If you sit down to play
cards and you see the person deal himself 2 aces from the bottom of the deck,
do you play on with this macho bravado that fair play will win out in the end?
The current political system has been altered over time to give enormous
advantages to the incumbents.  Almost no one disputes this.

By choosing to not vote, people are depriving the aristocrats of their
important claim to having a legitimate government.  When the non-voters were
10-15% of the population, the gov't still could claim to represent people.  
Today, around 60% of ELIGIBLE people don't vote.  Additionally, there is
a large portion of the population that isn't eligible due to prison, mental
incapacity or age (youngness).  

Those who strongly favor the right of the government to tell everyone what to
do desperately need for that government to have a claim to legitimacy.  Note 
that voting is compulsory in China and North Korea. The non-voters deserve 
some respect for choosing to deny that legimimacy.  Everyone has the right to 
vote in the manner that he chooses, and not voting is a way to vote for the
larger issue of "does voting matter?".  

As a side note, it just happens that I personally vote, but I respect those 
who don't.  

Feel free to send me your comments, and if they're fairly lucid I'll include 
them as rebuttal/support on the pages below.   
email Mike Burns