The Rally Call Blog

Note: This story was submitted to the Rally Call Blog through the Center for Civic Engagement by John Jalkanen. This might be a good time for us to state that the opinions of the authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana - Bloomington and shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes.

Coke/Pepsi, Hershey/Nestle, Viacom/NewsCorp, Democrat/Republican. An oligopoly is much like a monopoly, only you can’t say you don’t have a choice.

The question before me today is: why do I vote? I often ask myself this question. To be honest, I really don’t know. A part of me thinks voting only gives unwarranted legitimacy to an otherwise corrupt and elitist enterprise. Lately, my cynicism is affirmed by the appearance of electronic voting machines with no paper trail made by corporations with a campaign contribution history that clearly favors one party over the other, the creative realignment of voting districts to favor the party that happens to be in power when the lines get drawn, and, of course, the fact that lobbyists outnumber congressmen by something along the order of 65 to 1 in Washington, DC. As citizens, our choices for representatives are poor at best. We’ve all heard the metaphors: Tweedledee and Tweedledumb, the lesser of two evils, etc. It seems to me, the two parties are pretty much the same aside from “hot button” issues, like abortion, gun rights, and gay marriage. During election debates, they may sound quite distinct. But, get them in office and their performance is pretty much the same: do whatever the corporate backers want.

I often tell myself that I vote because I can, because in some countries citizens aren’t that lucky. Elections don’t equate with freedom, however. A vote is only as good as the representation it awards you. Compared to the 24/7 legalized bribery (a.k.a “lobbying”) going on in Washington, how does one or two voting days a year stack up? Quite frankly, it doesn’t. One day out of the year devoted to being a citizen is not enough to change the tide of corruption that constantly floods over our nation’s capital. Voting, to me, is the least one could do as a citizen. The other 364 days a year ought to be used for non-violent “grassroots” democracy: protests, marches, citizen (as opposed to corporate) lobbying, writing letters to your representatives, and anything else that you can think of. Now, of course, when the bills have got to be paid and the cost of living is increasing while the wages stay stagnant, it is simply not possible for all of us to be camped out at the White House gates (not that they would let you). And you better believe that is precisely what the politicians are counting on. They’re hoping we will be overburdened with staying afloat or, failing that, just too distracted by the sports and entertainment industry to keep up-to-date on all the issues being decided in our name. And their strategy is largely working. The more you begin to understand how our system works, the more voting just seems like a cheap way for a leader to gain legitimacy. Still, we (and by “we”, I mean half of all registered voters) keep up The Great Charade.

So, why do I vote? For many reasons, I suppose:

I vote because I am culturally pre-programmed to think it is the right thing to do.
I vote because I’m tired of my country having a lower voter turn-out than most third-world nations.
I vote because less evil is better than more evil.
I vote because I want to believe the lie and sleep better at night, when I tell myself I am doing my part to be a citizen.
I vote because democracy isn’t perfect, but it is the best we have as people who will be ruled over, one way or another.

However, voting is only the first step to being a citizen. And until we are prepared to sacrifice our tailgate parties, TV shows, and rock concerts, we can expect the power in this country to shift further and further away from “we the people”.