McManigal: Refusing to vote is vote for liberty

In last week’s column, valid alternatives were offered to those hesitant to waste a vote by endorsing an evil — lesser or not. For some reason almost everyone focused on the point that it isn’t smart to keep playing a game you know is rigged.

Overwhelmingly, the people demand their right to keep losing to known cheaters.

Kent McManigal

They apparently see voting as essential to liberty rather than recognizing it as a tool to empower the opposite.

Fair enough.

I won’t demand you not vote; I’m saying if you vote, please don’t stop there. Learn, think, and reason — no matter where it leads. I hope you do this because I believe the more you know, the more you’ll practice rightful liberty and the more you’ll ignore politicians and their arbitrary opinions called laws.

You don’t need a professional bully class to control you and your neighbors, and I hope for the day you realize it. The truth will set you free.

Many people view the refusal to vote as “doing nothing,” when nothing could be further from the truth. Back when most doctors believed bloodletting was an effective treatment, those who declined the disastrous procedure weren’t doing nothing, they were refusing to make matters worse. It’s an important distinction. Don’t make matters worse by doing the wrong thing.

The refusal to sanction a politician, or an office for a politician to hold, is voting for liberty and independence in the most effective way. It is the individual withdrawal of consent.

If you are happy with how things are, vote and go home. Be content in the knowledge that you have helped ensure no real change can threaten your familiar world. If something unexpected crops up you can believe it wasn’t your fault. You did your part to prop up the status quo.

If, however, you want things to change and bring a chance for a better life, there are plenty of options. Before, after, or instead of voting, get out there and tell people what you stand for, and what changes you want to bring to the world. Explain why the status quo is not good enough.

Then show everyone you mean it by acting on it. Live as though the world were already as you advocate — but be smart.

There are those who will use laws to punish you for daring to threaten the status quo and the cozy police state they’ve built around you. And they vote.

Farwell’s Kent McManigal champions liberty. Contact him at:

[email protected]