Politics for the Depressed Voter

Benjamin Wiker helps the disillusioned voter make it through this dismal political campaign season with his, Why You Must Vote and What You Can Expect:

This is not an article for those who are unabashedly in love with democracy, who look forward to election year with patriotic zeal directed first of all to the nation and second of all to one of the political parties. I write instead for the genuinely dispossessed: for those who feel deep in their bones that the entire political process is a sham; who think that our country, whatever its previous merits, is accelerating in a decades-long slide; who grant that Americans enjoy great blessings, but do so in the midst of self-inflicted moral and spiritual deprivations; who believe that voting for either candidate is merely a decision about the handbasket in which to ride to hell. In short, I write for those who, faced with the prospect of choosing between Senator Barack Obama or Senator John McCain, are nearly in despair about democracy and who are consequently planning to skip the whole sordid affair rather than soil their consciences.

To those thus afflicted I say, "Cheer up and vote." Politics is always a sad compromise ... Read more …