1) I went to vote today and the line was astronomical (I live in Florida). I probably would have waited at least an hour and I wasn't going to be voting for Romney or Obama. So I figured my time was better spent elsewhere. One post on my blog is far more influential than any trip to the voting booth.
2) Can I still call it a voting booth? You don't actually go in and close a curtain anymore. Or do they in some places? Young adults today might not even know what I'm talking about.
3) H. L. Mencken said, "Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard." While it is funny, I am not this cruel. I don't wish this government on most people. I think most people are just ignorant about politics, history, economics, etc. I think most people mean well. They may not deserve the government they ask for, but they are going to get it.
4) What are the chances that your single vote would decide the presidential election? It would have to be at least one in a billion. And even if it were a one-vote margin in one particular state that would decide it all, then it would end up being decided by vote counters, lawyers, and judges. Remember 2000?
5) When thinking about the above point, it really is amazing just how close Florida was in 2000. To think that of millions of votes, it came down to just a few hundred in a state that decided it all.
6) I don't think most people understand when I tell them that our solutions do not lie in politics. They don't understand that government relies on their consent. Some people even say that they don't consent, but then go on and tell me about the government programs that we do need.
7) There is a saying that if you get people asking the wrong question, then you don't have to worry about the answer. Isn't this what this election is? If you have establishment candidate A (Obama) vs. establishment candidate B (Romney), then the establishment doesn't have to worry about who wins.
8) What would happen if there was an election and nobody showed up? Not literally. Of course the candidates and their families will show up. There will always be some people who show up. But what if voter turnout dropped by a huge percentage, say 50%. This would scare the establishment more than anything.
9) As said above, the government relies on the consent of the people. The government will always get away with whatever it can. It will only be as good as the people are. It is rare that a government is better. Are there any examples of this? Maybe the prime minister (essentially dictator) in Dubai and United Arab Emirates. He is a relatively free market guy. I think the same goes for the prince in Liechtenstein. If these places were democracies or democratic republics, they would actually be worse off.
10) Why are people so passionate about politics? It is because it means control. The government has so much power over our lives, that there is a big stake in the game. If we were allowed to choose our own government, then all of this fighting would not be necessary. I don't care if people want Obamacare, as long as individuals and companies are not forced to participate. If all of the blue voters want to get together and have Obamacare, go at it. The same goes for the red voters and all of their issues. There won't be fighting if people are not forced to participate in other people's schemes.