The Right Not to Vote and the (Sometime) Obligation Not to Vote

I did not vote this past election day. I usually don't vote. I have never voted in a school board election and probably never will, as I have always been committed to Catholic schools. The right to vote is highly regarded...for good reason! It is the foundation of democracy; without it we are under some tyranny. But the right not to vote is underrated! And the obligation not to vote, in many situations, is entirely ignored.

It is an error to proclaim some general duty to vote. It is senseless to vote if one is not informed about the candidates and the issues. Most of us, most of the time lack the time, energy and interest to study the situation: most of us should probably not vote most of the time.

Most important social functions are performed by a select group: not all of us need do surgery, repair roofs, pray and fast daily, or even marry and beget children! Not every must pay taxes! And so, the vote is the right and privilege of those who give time, energy and effort to studying the issues. Many are called but few are chosen.

One of the deepest dysfunctions in a democracy like ours is the habit of always voting for the party of one's family or tradition. In a place like Hudson County, NJ, where I live, this makes for deep political corruption. Or consider the Afro-American vote which goes over 90% of the time for the party that coordinates the systematic, state-sponsored genocide of about 65% of conceived babies of that race in New York City! Is that a moral...an intelligent decision?

In the context of our current national politics, the obligation not to vote asserts itself with unusual force. In a hypothetical face-off between a Hitler and a Stalin, a crude calculation of the "lesser evil" would be morally unthinkable! I see our current situation as similar, if less extreme. As a never-Trumper, I am deeply troubled that those I love and respect could vote for a man who blatantly enacts vile, despicable values. But, as a never-forever-fanatical-passionate-zealous anti-Democrat, I am more horrified that others I love and respect could vote for the Party of Death!