THE VOTE
(An American Addiction)
By Robert A. Clapp
"I use neither the ballot box nor any forms of violence to compel others." Robert Le Fevre
"In politics we presume that everyone who knows how to get votes knows how to administer." Will Durant
"A democracy is two wolves and one sheep voting on what to have for dinner." Anonymous
"In an election those who get the most votes usurp the right to legalize all criminal acts for their benefit." Robert Clapp
With the blood of Birthrights sucked from their veins, they fall to their knees before the State and snivel for their cyclical infusion of cradle to grave security. Daily they turn to the Brave New World of Media for endorsement of the best dealers in America - for dealers with the guile of Iago who appear in newspapers and flash crafty smiles across TV screens. Each one calling their competitors liars, adulterers, bigots, crooks, etc., but promising if you'll just "deal" with them, eternal health, wealth, and happiness will be yours.
It is that time again! Time to look in your local newspaper for the corner address where you cringe in a private booth and mainline America's favorite drug -THE VOTE. But hurry! A shortage seems to be in the making. The Disappearing American Voter, by Ruy Teixeira of the Brookings Institute of dealers reports, and laments over, a trend among users (especially young ones) to kick the habit. For example, the following statistics are reported among 18-24 year olds registered to USE,
49.6% in 1972, 42.0% in 1976, 40.0% in 1980, 32.0% in 1988, 29.7% in 1996.
Nationally the shooting up with the vote has steadily declined from generation to generation. In 1972 when 18 year olds got the right to use 55% of them "shot up" in the presidential election. In 2000 only 42% of them remained addicted.
Of the reasons given by the young people to simply say "No!" the most frequent was, "In the long run government does more harm than good." Now, I ask you - "what better way is there to describe a drug?"
This rehabilitative trend appears to continue among all users:
A total of 78.7 million users mainlined the vote in 2002 off year elections. A turnout of 39.3% of all voting age citizens. This turnout for a fix was 20% lower than the turnout for mid-term elections in the 1960s. The addiction rate among black users had dropped 25% from the 1960s.
Consider the diminishing number of addicts registered to use and those actually using during the hotly pushed races among dealers for Governor and U.S. Senator in Maricopa County, Arizona, 1994:1,173,718 registered addicts.
583,427 actual users/
Only 49.7% still using!
And our recovery improves further when we consider all people eligible to use:1,766,310 eligible to use.
583,427 actual users.
Only 33% still craving!
Such recovery is better than reductions in tobacco use, a more benign drug. As you might guess, I'm following with childlike glee the slow agonizing death throe of the most evil drug peddled on America's streets, in its churches, and on its school yards - THE VOTE.
Now, that same Ruy Teixeira, mentioned above, has written a new book, The Emerging Democratic Majority. In this new book he compiles "pounds" of details about voting. In the final analysis, however, its conclusion is that the "Donkey" will prevail in power and number over the "Elephant." Maybe. Maybe not. However, what first struck me is his (and most academics and pundits) misleading use of the word "majority;" as if no other option exists. Even Teixeira pointed out in his other book that the real majority is the NON-VOTER, and this majority is growing far faster than donkeys and elephants. In fact, there is a cataclysmic "train wreck" coming:The day when by sheer numbers, those who think overrun those who vote. Or, as Thomas Paine said, "The instant government is abolished society begins to act."
Of course the ballot as bullet is not going silently into the night, it will die as it was born:red in tooth and claw: Just keep an eye of the slaughter of Mexicans at our borders and the coming bloodletting by elected murderer Bush II! (Think about these victims of the vote Mr. O. Ricardo Pimentel, columnist for The Arizona Republic, when you call non-users scum.)
This drug is thousands of years old, but as used today, its origins grew from the philosophies of Pragmatism and Utilitarianism. From the functional constructs of these subjective metaphysics, the polity of John Locke and the founding fathers, the modern political parties and the vote were born.
Utilitarianism, dominant in the late 19th century, is a philosophy that judges right and wrong, good and evil, by the quality of most (collectively) human beings? lives. It is a subjective metaphysics of ethical paradigms teleologically concerned with proposals to achieve results?results with utility for most people. The originators, John Stuart Mill and Jeremy Bentham, thought of the state as a man-made institution to frame a consensus as a means to holding order for most people. An Individual Human Being might be wrong but never a majority of them.
To Bentham and Mill, the state could only be judged by how well it promotes, in their words, "The greatest happiness of the greatest number." Today?s political demagogues call it, "The greatest good for the greatest number." Incidentally, this philosophy set the stage for Marx and his "From each according to his abilities, but to each according to his needs." These ideas have wrought the dreaded doctrine of majority rule-THE VOTE!
For example, an individual human being might consider drinking alcohol alright, but if a majority, through the utility of the vote want it bad enough, the sheer weight of numbers will force that individual to stop drinking, or become a criminal. Presto! Prohibition. Or today, individuals who use marijuana for religious reasons (American Indians), for medical reasons (relief of glaucoma), or just for recreational reasons (millions) are criminalized, demonized, and thrown into prison for years by a majority vote! (I'll cite a case later to show just how long!) The law of physics about "equal and opposite reactions," the phenomenon of the flapping of a butterfly's wings, and the fallout of unintended consequences all prove that the "greatest good for the greatest number" of democracy's THE VOTE undeniably equates to "The maximum evil for the maximum number."
It is disgusting and fascinating to observe these elected demagogues fret over what they call their "legacy," after leaving office. Its equally disgusting to watch Media sycophants slobber all over themselves speaking and writing about it. If the truth could ever come out, it would be horribly and sadly evident that the only legacy possible for enslavers, elected or not, to leave is:Just how much evil did they inflict on that minimum number who would not obey their demands?
Right now, the strongest metaphysics driving the political process is Pragmatism. Similar to Utilitarianism in its subjectivism yet lacks Utilitarianism's concept of good-remember Utilitarianism was a vote to attain a defined "common good." For example, a majority votes to transfer the wealth of one group to another for some altruistic purpose. Though completely false in its premises, it does have a kind of "morality." Pragmatism, on the other hand, is amoral. It is founded on the idea that its practicality and its function in political action are the core of its values. The principal founder, William James, held that Pragmatism strictly believes that ideas "borrow their meanings from their consequences and their truth from their verification." American clerks of tyranny have pragmatically shortened this to THE ENDS ALWAYS JUSTIFY THE MEANS! Pragmatism is used, through the VOTE to dispense "justice" in America today. Along with this disastrous legal positivism, Pragmatism, with equally disastrous results, through John Dewey's educational philosophy, has destroyed our public school system-and the dumbing down of America continues unabated! Consequently, the VOTE in a flood of alphabet soup, IRS, FDA, DEA, EPA, RICO, and a recipe of Regulatory Agencies continues to slowly poison our immutable Birthrights to life, liberty and property.
The VOTE by its "nature" is evil. That undeniable nature of the VOTE holds, based on the philosophies discussed earlier, that it is JUST and GOOD for 51% of a people, by a secret ballot, to place some number of men in "office," with the coercive power to pass laws that force 100% of the people to obey. These "officials" claim that this power is a "trust" we gave them. They call it, "the trust of public power." The ferocious fact that millions of people, neither secretly nor openly, granted such trust matters not to them?obey with the rest or go to prison, or be shot! This perversion of reason is a falsehood of the greatest magnitude. The truth is that NO such authority has been granted or even could be granted. No man or group of men can seize arbitrary authority over others.
Such a group violates each person's immutable Birthright to liberty, without signed consent there?s no consent. Men may only bind themselves by VOLUNTARY CONTRACT.
It is a bastardization of logic and language to claim such things as tacit, implied, or presumed as consent! There is NO power from dead men to bind the living. All such attempts are clearly criminal.
The VOTE is a grab for authority by brute force. It is a mendacity whose sole aim is to cloak an act of theft by one group of people over another. That the VOTE is shrouded in secrecy is evidence of its intended evil. No one is visible; no one is accountable. There is no sworn material offered. No proof of who grants or who claims such a trust is possible. There is simply NO way to identify a single individual as irrefutable proof of the trust. It is self-evident that VOTES cloaked in secrecy form a government of secrecy; proof that it is a government of no accountability. Exposed in its own words, Article I, Sec. 6 of the Constitution:
"For any speech or debate in either house, they [Senators and Representatives] shall not be questioned in any other place."
You want proof? Okay, research the fact of how Congress EXEMPTS itself from the laws it passes over the rest of us. This protective cover makes the VOTED IN clerks of tyranny virtually untouchable. Thus men who cannot logically or ethically have authority over anybody now have authority over everybody. What larceny! What lunacy! What lawlessness?WHAT EVIL! If such a "contract" were ever entered into by private individuals, NO honest court in the country would uphold it. NO ethical individual would follow it. NO moral church would condone it. Ask yourself, "What outrage would you feel if someone, without your written consent, and perhaps from the GRAVE, bound you to mate, property, or service?" Enslaved by men who never sought your consent; enslaved by men who had no natural right to impose a law on a single one of us; enslaved by the VOTE of invisible or dead sycophants, despots, and bandits. Yet, every November, millions of Pavlovian puppets return to the bandit's booth, pull the lever of servility, and VOTE themselves, and unwitting millions to slavery. The real HEROES are those who out of "lazy" self-interest, or from acquired wisdom don?t vote or practice any other forms of organized violence. The VOTE kills all independent action for the minority. Only the majority (51%) of those voting are still "free" to act by choice. Only they are equal to all people in the market place. The minority (the losing 49%) are impotent and NOT even on par with the weakest individuals in the free market place.
The VOTE is an all-or-none resolution. Winners take all; losers get nothing. Actually, it?s worse, the losers are FORCED to abide by something, take something, or pay for something they did NOT want. Pervertedly, 51 people get 100% of what?s at stake, and 49 people get ZERO. Compare this with the market place where 51 people with a dollar get 51% of what's at stake, and 49 people get 49% of what's at stake. And you say, the ballot's not a bullet. This is the unavoidable teleology of any collectivism as born by the individual. The VOTE is always, in the last analysis, forced upon ALL individuals in the society. COERCION is the inescapable ingredient that renders a political process collective and not voluntary or cooperative as in the market place. In other words, you win because you have more bullets (ballots) than reason that could survive the scrutiny or test of the market place.
What remains, then, is to examine Anarchism and how it contrasts with Statism. How about Webster's Unabridged Dictionary as a place to start-a way, as Socrates said, to define our terms.
Let's see, the cliche goes like this, "If you can't say something nice, then don't say anything at all." My, My! How I butchered that bit of advice. Well, I can't take it back, but I could still say something nice. Still give credit where credit is due. I could showcase a few of the VOTE?S accomplishments.
1) A law passed by the VOTE of legislators VOTED into office in Arizona brought the following column in The Arizona Republic 10/28/94:
"Grandmother, 56, serving life term for marijuana possession." The VOTE'S good deed was as follows:Elaine Prince-Patton went behind bars in 1992 after her second conviction for possession of marijuana. At the time [1992], Arizona law mandated that twice-convicted drug felons automatically receive life sentences. Mrs. Prince-Patton, an English born grandmother, who came to this country about 10 years ago to work, as a tailor, admitted doing a favor for one of her sons in 1991. She was caught with a package of marijuana in a suitcase at the Tucson Airport. She pleaded guilty to transporting marijuana. Two weeks later, Tucson police banged on her door and asked to speak to her son. He wasn't there, but police found an 80 lb. Bag of marijuana hidden in a laundry room. Mrs. Prince-Patton was arrested again. 'I knew I was on probation, and I certainly wouldn't knowingly have allowed dope in my house.' Nevertheless, she was found guilty in less than two hours and given life in prison. [Two murderers were paroled that same day after serving 9 and 13 years respectively.] She stated, 'The first time I was guilty. I foolishly did my son a favor; however, the second time, I was completely innocent.' But, hell! This is okay-remember, 'The ends justify the means.' And congratulations to the VOTE: our streets are safe from this grandmother who NEVER sold, bought, or used marijuana.
2) Serfdom, American Style. The VOTE'S next accolade is for extending the reach of our 'voluntary' tax collections. You've heard of Tax Freedom Day. That's the day when the average Americans have earned enough to pay local, state, and federal taxes, and can finally start working for themselves. According to the Tax Foundation, that date this year [1993] was May 5th-a new record! But wait, the news is even better-even that date may be early. According to Americans for Tax Reform, adding the cost of government regulation to the cost of taxes extends that day to July 10. This achievement is a continuation of a decades-long trend. According to Economic Scoreboard newsletter, your federal taxes, adjusted for inflation, have more than doubled since 1954. And state and local taxes have tripled. PRAISE TO THE VOTE!
3) Wishing to honor the VOTE?S potential for the 'greatest good for the greatest number' Spy magazine decided to see just how far people were willing to go to VOTE legislation offering 'free' goodies. After seeing an ABC poll indicating that 78% of Americans would VOTE for legislation forcing employers to pay for employee health care, they decided to take a poll of their own. Posing as congressional staffers, they asked 200 New York area workers this question, 'New York was facing stiff competition from other states in dairy production. Congressman Leach wanted to introduce legislation that would stimulate New York dairy production by forcing employers to provide their full-time employees with a daily serving of ice cream. Would you VOTE for such a bill?- A whopping 68% said YES!' NO! I'm not making this means to an end up, it's true.
4) Crime-Violence / Violence-Crime. What shall we do? Well, Batman and Superman stay home-the VOTE is here! At least in Georgia. Georgia school districts VOTED in a new 'zero tolerance' law that requires them to suspend of expel students who bring weapons to school-NO EXCEPTIONS. And it's working: A 7-year old girl brought a water gun to school and was suspended. An Atlanta elementary student was suspended for bringing a knife to school to cut cookies for her classmates. Just how tough is our VOTE-the super hero? Real Tough! A 17-year-old girl currently faces up to four years in prison for bringing some African artifacts, including a ceremonial knife to 'show and tell' to her class. The student had even received permission from her teacher. Yet, the charges stand-'My hands are tied,' said her principal. I know, I know; you are feeling envious that your state has no such law. Cheer up. Congress is now considering VOTING such legislation for the entire nation.
Damn! Just as my conversion to VOTE was almost complete, I find out, for a different reason, that it would be stupid of me. NOT because of my earlier stated philosophical proofs, but because the VOTE is stolen! In Votescam: The Stealing of America, James M. and Kenneth F. Collier have tracked down and exposed thieves within the system who steal our VOTES for their power and profit. Among them is a supreme court justice who rigged a VOTE fraud case, a powerful female publisher in America who won't let her newspapers and TV stations report on VOTE-rigging; VOTE-rigging by the Kennedys in Massachusetts and Lyndon Johnson's theft of office in Texas-and many, many more. The authors assert and prove with facts, films, and documents that your VOTE is being stolen and is meaningless. They irrefutably show how pre-programmed computers are fixed to select certain pre-ordained candidates and leave no paper trail.
So confusion reigns?TO VOTE or not to VOTE that is the question. Reason and Knowledge say, NO! Mysticism and Tribalism YES! And the Collier brothers say, it doesn't make a damn bit of difference! Well, addicts can't reason and they won't read-But of course! There is always next November.
Principles are not determined by a vote [and] Individual Birthrights are not subject to a public vote-Ayn Rand
Robert Clapp, 5244 E. Hashknife Rd., Phoenix, AZ 85054. (480) 664-2633
[This article originally appeared in the September-December 2003 issue of THE THOUGHT.]
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