This Ted Rall column argues against strategic voting and really, he doesn't have to do much to convince me. At the start of the fourth paragraph he mentions the fact that 61% of the population opposes sending more weapons to Israel. Now of course polling is an inexact science, blah-blah-blah, but I don't think 61% is very wide of the mark. But of course our political system doesn't reflect that. The preference of the majority of people can't even get a hearing in Washington. And probably not just on that.
Whether or not we have a democracy now can be debated. But it's absolutely true that our politicians take us for granted. And increasingly they treat voters as unpaid staff with an obligation to keep them in business. Looking at you, Barack.
This is an abusive setup and voters are right to take a good look at their options.
2 comments:
You're right that it's the political system that won't reflect the desires of the voters whether they're trying strategies like strategic voting or just pulling random levers. Unless it's one person with a valid ID and a paper ballot I don't see how anyone can convince themselves their vote will be counted and not changed by a voting machine. But that's just me.
Your further point is also valid and even more disturbing. We've seen a lot of situations, not only in the US, where the wishes of the electorate are ignored by politicians. I came across a study of the American problem made by two professors from Princeton and Northwestern - as the introduction mentions the results are unsettling.
https://represent.us/americas-corruption-problem/
The only time I've voted by mail was in the 2020 primaries, and that was just because I thought the board of canvassers might try some kind of weird venue change and I'd go looking all over for the polling place. I much prefer voting in person, where I can see where the ballot is going (at least up to a certain point.) The idea of voting from your computer or phone sounds like a disaster waiting to happen, if they enact it.
Wealthy individuals who are on the wrong side of the law will of course hire lawyers to make sure they're never prosecuted. Powerful organizations will go one better and hire someone to change the law. It's quite disturbing, because there's no obvious solution.
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