Dr. Martin Hash Podcast

Voting holds almost mystical reverence among seekers of liberty but there is no Right to vote, only injunctions against discrimination if there happens to be a vote. Since the manipulation of voters & the mechanics of voting offers control, it is under constant pressure from vested interests. Intentional voter suppression hides behind Voter ID laws, redistricting & old technology. Conservatives want voter restrictions because more voters, especially new voters, could change the status quo. In contrast, the Left often proposes Mandatory voting for everyone under the guise of “civic duty.”

Demagogues, both Left & Right, emanate a strong paternalistic undercurrent, where the idea of a democracy is besmirched by comparisons of voters to “the great unwashed,” that your vote doesn't mean anything, and there is a deep suspicion that the other side has rigged the process somehow. They point out the problems of voting, that there are a lot of people who do not have the capacity to make good decisions: the young, feeble, mentally ill & stupid. And there is a large portion of Americans who don't much like democracy: they would prefer the proles were ruled by a knowledgeable elite class. To these people, and there are a lot of them, democracy seems like irresponsible selfish people getting away with their hedonistic ways.

Voting can be adulterated, making it less democratic: for example, there are some decisions that require a super-majority, like two-thirds of the vote, but the further the needed majority is from 50%, the further it is from liberty. And there are often calls to tie voting to military or public service thereby limiting enfranchisement. Special Interests are often so sure of their crusades that they propose that only “informed” citizens can vote, assuming that informed voters would vote their way. Some people want to put the cost of voting on business, as if business is responsible for the proper functioning of society rather than Government.

Given these disincentives, indoctrination of our youth to the advantages of liberty, democracy, and voting seems to be the primarily method of maintaining American ideology.