My Heterodox Views on Voting

We are all dumb in almost all regards on almost all matters. Voting is no exception.

I bet you disagree with most if not all of this. I bet some of it angers you. Set that aside and think a bit before you dismiss my views. I might be right.

• Voting is astonishingly overrated. The further points below are an expansion on this truth.

• Based on fact not opinion much less a heterodox view, any individual voter has basically zero chance of affecting the outcome in an election. Because of that my heterodox view is you should not vote if your sole or dominant reason is because you think your vote will matter in terms of determining the winner.

• Even if you were voting because you feel like it is an important thing to do regardless of your ability to affect the outcome or simply an enjoyable thing to do, it is highly unethical of you to vote if you are not a well informed voter. This means not just on the issues but with a strong understanding of what issues should take priority and what candidates or issues you’re voting on will affect good social outcomes.

• Praise for those who vote or boasting about one’s having voted is unethical since it encourages those to vote who should not.

• It is more ethical and American in terms of patriotism and adherence to American values to refrain from voting then it is to vote when the choices are very poor.

• Voting gives credence to a false-dichotomy fallacy that our modern electoral system is completely absorbed in—the idea that we need to choose between the options offered (usually an R and a D) predicated on the further bad assumption that we have to vote. It is telling how many people work from the assumption that they must vote; therefore the question is just who to vote for. You. Don’t. Have. To. Vote. You can in the highest of principles decide to abstain. This is likely a much more ethical choice than giving a vote to a (lesser) villain or simply a less bad candidate that you have little reason to believe you legitimately have an educated opinion on as stated in the point above. But here we have an additional ethical concern—by voting you help substantiate the silly idea that one should vote and that one should think in terms of candidate A is less bad (but still bad) than candidate B; therefore, I will vote for candidate A. Support for a bad thing is support for a bad thing.

• Voting allows people to disconnect and apathetically disregard that which is being done in their name. We’ve gone from “don’t blame me, I voted for the other guy” to “don’t blame me, I voted” as a get-out-of-responsibility card for the vast array of wrongs governments do. Voting per se is not to blame here, but the religious aura that surrounds it is. The act of voting is never sufficient for good government. Many claim to understand and believe this. Very few convince me.