In America, we have been trained to believe in the idea of “one person one vote” and that every vote counts. Forget, for a moment, the 2004 Presidential election where the Supreme Court discounted counting all votes cast, and go with me a bit as I affirm the defeatist cry “one vote doesn’t matter.”

One vote does not matter. A single vote does no good. However, my vote, together with your vote, begins to make a difference. Understanding how to combine votes for influence is quickly being lost on the majority of us because we tend to see the world, and the profit of our lives, through an individual lens and not a shared kaleidoscope of being.

Voting, we must remember, is a social event that brings together people who share the same interests: I believe in this and you believe in this and together we can find others who believe in this and, before you know it, our insignificant single votes have become 100,000 votes with power and prestige and the muscle to move people, policy and nations.

Voting builds the will of the people but we cannot do it alone. Voting demands a commitment to each other and we must do it together. As you reflect on hurricane Katrina and the Iraq War and the future of our Supreme Court, consider where we are and how we got here. Then ask yourself if you are satisfied with the current state of not just your life but the emotional welfare of the entire nation.

Then wander back to the wondering moment of truth a year ago when you either cast a single vote — or no vote at all — and demand an answer if you did everything to find enough people to combine your shared interest with others who share your interest in order to change the will of a national majority leadership that appears lost, apathetic and disinterested in those unlike themselves.

12 Comments

  1. Interesting argument. The end surprised me. We have no one to blame but ourselves. We are reaping what we have sown.

  2. Hi Soos —
    Nice to see you again and I hope you are doing well.
    I think we’re headed into a dark three years. Public opinion on the Iraq War is changing and when support for a war wanes it never goes back up again. Katrina is a terrible irony that begs humanity but only appears to provide guns.

  4. Hi Roddy!
    I think your advice is timely and as well as a necessary warning for a means to a new path.
    I like your “bundling votes” phrase and we should certainly start thinking together on this now. 🙂

  5. The Supreme Court had nothing to do with the 2004 election. They ruled in 2000 that Florida couldn’t make up the recount rules as they went. Nice theories, but your history is a little weak.

  6. Hi Rick —
    It’s nice to have you posting here.
    Actually, the Supreme Court of the United States did play quite an interesting, yet underreported, role in the 2004 Presidential contest when they denied applications to vacate the 6th Circuit’s stays of the lower court rulings concerning voter intimidation because there was “insufficient time to properly review the filings and submissions.”
    What’s the rush? It’s a Presidential election! Is there something more important pending? No one is going anywhere. There was plenty of time to sort out the votes and how they were cast — and not cast — in Ohio.
    You can read the full Status Report of the House Judiciary Committee Staff titled “Preserving Democracy: What Went Wrong in Ohio?” here:
    http://www.house.gov/judiciary_democrats/ohiostatusrept1505.pdf

  7. Dude, it was the 2000 election where the Supremes had to reign in the rogue Florida Supremes & their moonbat ideation. The FLA supremes were given a warning, but they still voted to wander out into fairyville, so the Supremes had to correct their craziness. If you want to talk about election unfairness, why don’t you talk about all the military votes that were not counted, not just in Florida, but in the rest of the country. I don’t know about you, but if someone is good enough to fight for this country, I think their vote is good enough to be counted.

  9. I agree! Whenever people try to argue politics with me, my first question is “Did you vote?” if they didn’t I don’t even bother to continue the topic.
    People who whine and moan about the decisions their government is making, are mostly the people who didn’t care enough to stand in a line and vote.

  11. It’s all Bushes fault, why he prevented the mayor of N.O. from using these busses from getting people out. I count 312 busses, each seat 48 people. That could have been 14,975 more folks that got out when the order was given to go.
    If the Mayor had let the police be police, they could have prevented a lot of the lawlessness, but instead he ANNOUNCED that the police were not going to stop the looters. Yep, this is ALL the fault of Bush, the mayor has noooo part in it at all…

  12. Hello Vulture 6 —
    Were drivers available for all the busses?
    Were the busses gassed up and able to be put into service?
    Were the busses able to get out of the parking lot and to the people?

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