On Democracy

It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government, except all the others that have been tried.  Winston Churchill

Over the years, I've been involved in many facets of Democracy.  I've run campaigns for local candidates, I've volunteered for national ones. I've given speeches, monitored voting counts, hung up posters.  As a political science major in college, I learned more about the process of elections than anyone should, and I admit it left me somewhat.. jaded.  Even back in the 70s the academics believed that politics were about one thing, and that was getting re elected.  I think now they'd agree it is about control of resources and power as well, which can't be accomplished without re election.
I also, as many of you know, participated in some experiments with democracy in the Virtual World of Second life.  One of those projects was a Euro style system, where parliamentarians were elected by factions.  The other was a direct democracy, one person, one vote on all issues. One thing stands out among all those systems, all that experience, both real and virtual that never ceases to amaze me, and that is the number of people who don't exercise their right to vote.

People often say that, in a democracy, decisions are made by a majority of the people Of course, that is not true. Decisions are made by a majority of the those who make themselves heard and who vote-- a very different thing. Walter H. Judd.

There are good reasons not to exercise the right to vote, but most of them have to do with someone doing something wrong. My youngest son was looking forward to voting in his first election this year.  He filled out the paperwork and sent it in with plenty of time to get an absentee ballot.  (He's registered at home, but is at college now, 5 hours away.)  He never received his ballot. That isn't right.  I'm still toying with flying him home after class so he can vote, but that's a bit drastic.  I'll watch the polls.. if it looks like it might make a difference, you bet I'll do it.   Because one thing is for sure: 
Bad politicians are sent to Washington by good people who don't vote. William E Simon.

If you have the right to vote in the election today, please exercise it.  I may not agree with your choices, but I believe completely in the collective choice of all our voices.   We just have to make ourselves heard.