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I know there's a dedicated US election thread, but I think this is a subject with a broader potential scope.
Over the years, I've slowly come to the conclusion that there's no point in voting for candidates because you want them to enact specific legislation or policies. There's simply no guarantee that your vote, or that candidate, or that piece of political action is going to bring about what you want. What's more, my actual stances on certain issues are so crazy that there isn't always a suitable corollary in any of the candidates or policies from which I have to choose. Additionally, I'm not particularly concerned with the fate of the Unites States (or any other country, for that matter). All that concerns me is that humanity persists.
So, instead, I've come to realize that my interests are best served by voting for candidates that share ideas I support. This is, I believe, an important distinction from voting for candidates that will actually do things I support. My goal in this is to change the national conversation, to slowly shift the culture of the country closer toward the kinds of ideas I have - not so that those ideas are eventually put into law, but simply so that there are more people that share them.
To that end, my voting strategy this year has been to identify those ideas that are most important to me and figure out which candidates have ideas that are on the path toward those ideas. These issues are:
Science - I want to achieve omniscience. Unfortunately, we don't quite have a handle on how to bring this about, so I want as much as possible to promote the advancement of science and technology.
Energy - It's going to take a lot of energy to conquer the universe and we won't be able to do it with coal plants. Whether we need to look at fusion, wind power, Dyson spheres, or forcing poor people to run in giant hamster wheels, I believe we need to do whatever it takes to exploit the energy of the universe before it's too late.
Healthcare - Dead people don't do much. It's my firm belief that people should not have to struggle simply to live productive lives, and that the right to the opportunity to live a productive life must be universal.
Education - Stupid people don't do much, either. It is inexcusable that kids are still made fun of for being smart, and it is inexcusable that most people are thoroughly unaware of their own limits and capabilities.
Civil Rights - I don't particularly care if black people run faster than whites, Jews are better with money than non-Jews, or gays have better fashion sense than straights. I want everyone to be able to sprint like a cheetah, have a stash of gold hidden somewhere, and wear snazzy clothes. The more we distinguish and discriminate between people, the less productive our population is as a whole.
So, what's your voting philosophy? What do you look for in your candidates? What do you ultimately want to accomplish by participating in the democratic process?
Over the years, I've slowly come to the conclusion that there's no point in voting for candidates because you want them to enact specific legislation or policies. There's simply no guarantee that your vote, or that candidate, or that piece of political action is going to bring about what you want. What's more, my actual stances on certain issues are so crazy that there isn't always a suitable corollary in any of the candidates or policies from which I have to choose. Additionally, I'm not particularly concerned with the fate of the Unites States (or any other country, for that matter). All that concerns me is that humanity persists.
So, instead, I've come to realize that my interests are best served by voting for candidates that share ideas I support. This is, I believe, an important distinction from voting for candidates that will actually do things I support. My goal in this is to change the national conversation, to slowly shift the culture of the country closer toward the kinds of ideas I have - not so that those ideas are eventually put into law, but simply so that there are more people that share them.
To that end, my voting strategy this year has been to identify those ideas that are most important to me and figure out which candidates have ideas that are on the path toward those ideas. These issues are:
Science - I want to achieve omniscience. Unfortunately, we don't quite have a handle on how to bring this about, so I want as much as possible to promote the advancement of science and technology.
Energy - It's going to take a lot of energy to conquer the universe and we won't be able to do it with coal plants. Whether we need to look at fusion, wind power, Dyson spheres, or forcing poor people to run in giant hamster wheels, I believe we need to do whatever it takes to exploit the energy of the universe before it's too late.
Healthcare - Dead people don't do much. It's my firm belief that people should not have to struggle simply to live productive lives, and that the right to the opportunity to live a productive life must be universal.
Education - Stupid people don't do much, either. It is inexcusable that kids are still made fun of for being smart, and it is inexcusable that most people are thoroughly unaware of their own limits and capabilities.
Civil Rights - I don't particularly care if black people run faster than whites, Jews are better with money than non-Jews, or gays have better fashion sense than straights. I want everyone to be able to sprint like a cheetah, have a stash of gold hidden somewhere, and wear snazzy clothes. The more we distinguish and discriminate between people, the less productive our population is as a whole.
So, what's your voting philosophy? What do you look for in your candidates? What do you ultimately want to accomplish by participating in the democratic process?
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