David McElroy

Now that Barack Obama has been elected to another four years in the White House, some people around me are in denial. Mitt Romney has gone down in flames, much like John McCain did four years ago. (Remember him?) And standing on the sideline are various libertarians saying, “If you had only nominated Ron Paul, we would have beaten Obama.”

Four years ago, a lot of people were upset with the election of Obama. Some didn’t like him because he’s black. But most who opposed him did so because they deeply disagreed with him about the direction for the country. A group of people loosely calling themselves the Tea Party emerged to say that the direction had to change. They were going to organize and march and demand lower taxes and smaller government.

Four years later, how’s that working out? That conservative backlash has helped the Republicans to hold onto the U.S. House, but that’s about the extent of it. Democrats hold the Senate and the White House.

What’s more, the Tea Party is a weird mix held together only by a hatred of the progressive left. Although the Tea Party had libertarian roots, it’s more of a mainstream social conservative group now. Yes, they still talk about economically conservative ideas, but social conservative ideas have taken more and more prominence in places where the Tea Party groups have been successful in gaining influence.

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I’m worried about the mental health of some of my friends at this difficult time. Some portion of them are bound to be in deep depression by tonight.

Considering how polarized most people have been about the presidential election — and considering the fact that each side of the mainstream honestly believes that it’s Armageddon if the other side wins — there are going to be a lot of potentially suicidal people tonight.

Are the supporters of the losing candidate going to be jumping off of bridges? Are they going to be slashing their own wrists? I’m worried about them, because they don’t have experience dealing with this kind of crushing loss.

If you believe that the future of your world depends upon getting Mitt Romney or Barack Obama elected president, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment. In this case, I figure it will probably be the Romney supporters on suicide watch, assuming that the projections hold up. But you never know.

I have a solution to this problem, though. They need to talk to libertarians and anarchists.

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Most educated and informed Americans will cast a vote for president by the end of the day Tuesday. I won’t be among them. I know quite a number of intelligent, informed and principled people who will also decline to vote. I’d like to explain my reasons — and I’d like to suggest that you consider joining us as non-voters.

For as long as you can remember, people have preached to you about your duty to vote. You’ve been told that a good citizen should vote. You’ve been told that it doesn’t matter who you vote for, as long as you vote. And you’ve been told that every vote counts. There are even elaborate emails that people spam each other with that tell all the alleged cases in which one vote could have changed history. (Never mind that the examples are a pack of lies. People who have agendas don’t need to worry about facts.)

The “majority rules” system is a civic religion, and voting is the ultimate act of worship. When you vote, you are showing your allegiance to the government, whether you intend to or not. The very fact that you participate legitimizes the system. Your participation says, “I believe this is a morally right way to decide who gets power.” After all, if you’re willing to vote for your candidate’s right to hold power, how can you be claim that the other candidate doesn’t have the right to hold power when he wins?

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