When I vote, I have registered approval of one faction of politicians and have arguably lost my right to complain about the policies they go ahead and enact. (If they lose, I should not complain either, and I should humbly submit to the outcome of the democratic process.)
Good thing the idea of “rights” is mostly incoherent anyway.
You probably have indeed lost the right to complain about that particular faction of politicians you voted for, if they acted according to how you can reasonably have predicted them to act. (e.g. in my own homeland I don’t think anyone who voted for the Neonazi party has the right to complain about them when they predictably started murdering immigrants)
If a psychopath says “tell me which of your kids you want me to shoot, or I shoot them all anyway”, you don’t become an accessory to murder by answering him, because everybody recognizes that you were under duress and just trying to reduce the damage.
If you are faced with a choice of “tell us which jerk gets to order everyone around, or we’ll pick someone anyway without your input”, then attempting to pick the lesser evil also does not make you culpable of anything, for similar reasons.
(If it was possible to send a “protest” message by not voting, things might be more complicated, but in practice any such protest signal would be undiscernable from apathy and cynicism noise)
When I vote, I have registered approval of one faction of politicians and have arguably lost my right to complain about the policies they go ahead and enact.
I’m confused, what if I register my approval or disapproval by protesting, distributing leaflets, making petitions to various courts or writing angry blog posts? Surely I’ve made more impact on politics by engaging in propaganda, activism and legal action than if I merely voted. Perhaps I can even get a job as a government advisor and thus directly register my approval or disapproval to the politicians themselves. Why is voting magic?
(If they lose, I should not complain either, and I should humbly submit to the outcome of the democratic process.)
Why? May I remind you who can win elections in a democracy…
Good thing the idea of “rights” is mostly incoherent anyway.
On this we agree, but I wonder why you then made your argument in that language?
When I vote, I have registered approval of one faction of politicians and have arguably lost my right to complain about the policies they go ahead and enact. (If they lose, I should not complain either, and I should humbly submit to the outcome of the democratic process.)
Good thing the idea of “rights” is mostly incoherent anyway.
You probably have indeed lost the right to complain about that particular faction of politicians you voted for, if they acted according to how you can reasonably have predicted them to act. (e.g. in my own homeland I don’t think anyone who voted for the Neonazi party has the right to complain about them when they predictably started murdering immigrants)
You should factor in that uncertainty before voting! Consequentialism, dude.
I think people have a right to find out that they were wrong, and say so.
If a psychopath says “tell me which of your kids you want me to shoot, or I shoot them all anyway”, you don’t become an accessory to murder by answering him, because everybody recognizes that you were under duress and just trying to reduce the damage.
If you are faced with a choice of “tell us which jerk gets to order everyone around, or we’ll pick someone anyway without your input”, then attempting to pick the lesser evil also does not make you culpable of anything, for similar reasons.
(If it was possible to send a “protest” message by not voting, things might be more complicated, but in practice any such protest signal would be undiscernable from apathy and cynicism noise)
I’m confused, what if I register my approval or disapproval by protesting, distributing leaflets, making petitions to various courts or writing angry blog posts? Surely I’ve made more impact on politics by engaging in propaganda, activism and legal action than if I merely voted. Perhaps I can even get a job as a government advisor and thus directly register my approval or disapproval to the politicians themselves. Why is voting magic?
Why? May I remind you who can win elections in a democracy…
On this we agree, but I wonder why you then made your argument in that language?