20131106.0627

I admit that I have not been diligent in my civic duties of attending to elections in this cycle, to my shame.  It has not always been the case that I have not paid much mind to who is running what and where; I have remarked about such things in the past.  But this time around, I have not had the energy to spend on watching politics, I have not had much to add to discussions of them, I have not had the time to take away from a number of other pursuits, and I have found it hard to care.  (I also remain unsure about my eligibility to vote in state and local elections at this point...I really ought to ask after that...in and among all of the other things that need doing...if I remember...and if it matters...)

That I have not done so removes me from the ability to complain about things that might have been influenced by me had I voted.  Senators and Representatives against whom I have not yet had the chance to vote (and admittedly more the former than the latter) are still targets, as are those people chosen in the elections in which I voted (and there were a few).  Executives can get the same treatment.  But I did fail in some of my duties, and so I must accept the consequences thereof; I didn't do what I could to stop things, so I do not get to complain about them not being to my liking.  (Again, unless I was not eligible to vote because of my move...I really need to look...)

My "reasons" for not voting are the same as I have railed against in others, which, I suppose, makes me once again a hypocrite.  I suppose it also serves to position me among the great masses of people in the United States, consumed with my own immediate advancement and agenda rather than the greater good.  And while I know that some would say that my concern for such things, myself rather than the body politic, is actually the best thing for that body, I do not know that I can agree.  Certainly, I want to see a strong social safety net (i.e., welfare, food stamps, social security, basic universal health care, effective and ethical law enforcement and military forces, public schooling) in place.  I might need it (again), so that in one respect, it is like insurance--and I do not mind others using it while I am not, so long as it is there when I do need it.  But, more to the point, I have seen the stupidity and, frankly, evil that result from people focusing on themselves and their own immediate needs to the exclusion of others'.  It is that focus that leads children to gorge themselves to the point of vomiting.  It is that focus that prompts people defending themselves to flail about wildly, possibly hitting their intended target, and likely inflicting harm on others not involved in the attack (and leaving aside the question of whether or not an attack is actually being made).  It is at some level the same focus that has led to atrocities time and again, and--

--and, like I noted, I did not vote, so I ought not to complain.  I have helped it be this way, and I am (and should be) ashamed.