Better to Vote, But...

Tomorrow is a primary election day here in Michigan, and I will dutifully cast my vote. Yet the older I get, the less certain I am of its value.

To begin with, there's a degree to which democracy is simply the tyranny of the majority. Too many people want everybody else's money, time, and effort spent on what they believe important. Those folks are all too ready to force their will on the fifty percent minus one. That's arrogance, and insults basic human dignity. 

Generally speaking, we can and should do for ourselves, and are decent enough on our own to help those who can't. We need to put clamps on government power rather than give it further release. Voting I sometimes fear merely feeds the beast while giving it legitimacy. Legitimacy to do anything it chooses. At the risk of understatement, that's fraught with peril.

Then there's all these people more than willing to 'sacrifice' for us. I am increasingly skeptical of the integrity of anyone who actually wants to be a politician. What makes you so great that you can solve all what ails us? 

At the heart of it, I can't escape the idea that the great majority of people who want to be politicians are at heart narcissists. To be sure, the depth of that will vary from person to person. Some will be better than others, but circumstance works against them all. I'm not sure it's possible for anyone to be completely selfless enough (or forceful enough) to serve the populace in full objectivity.

So I'll vote, and hope and pray for the best. It's all I've got, and it is a bit of neglecting duty to not cast a ballot. Still, it's a shame that all too often my vote is cast while holding my nose, and fearing my neighbor.

Why I can't stop Donald Trump

We are in the throes of another election year here in the States, and all my Candian friends seem to want to knwo from me is, 'What are you going to do about Trump?'. Well, I can't do anything about Trump. And neither, quite frankly, can the GOP

The way things are with US elections right now, anyone can enter primaries as whatever party they choose. Because of the open nature of most primaries and caucuses, if someone wishes to seek elective office all they need to do is proclaim themselves a Democrat or Republican and do their level best to entice the public into supporting them rather than appeal to the respective party on the grounds of political philosophy. As almost anyone can vote in the primary or caucus of their choice in order to select candidates for either major party. The parties have increasingly little say in who actually represents them.

What this does more than anything is weaken party identification and, in the end, any real choice we have in who we elect. It leads to what currently are called RINOS: Republicans in name only. One would supposed that DINOS, Democrats in name only, would be rampant in the political world as well. Basically we end up with two parties: Demopublicans and Republicrats, political movements of a hash which leave little save bland taste.

As political parties are essentially private entities, it should follow that they ought to be able to select their own candidates for office. It would create something more akin to what parliamentary systems have, a party discipline wherein you could not run as a Republican or Democrat unless you really stood for what the party did.

What we require is a return to the smoke filled rooms of yesteryear. That would stand a better chance of giving us as the electorate a real choice in who becomes our legislators, congressmen, governors, and presidents. Let the parties choose who represents what they believe in. Then we may actually see a difference in the GOP and the donkeys. Until then, we shall get what we deserve: bad philosophy, and worse politics.