Ron Paul - False Messiah

It's been the buzz going around libertarian and anarchist circles lately. Ron Paul, the man with the plan! He's going to cut the government down, a great step toward anarchy/minarchy! Libertarians across the country are already pledging to vote for him in the coming election, even people who previously espoused non-participation.

But is Ron Paul really the 'messiah', come to save us all? Will getting him into the presidency really bring us closer to anarchy, or is it a futile move, in fact treading us closer to the waterfall than to the shore? This seems to be a common point of contention amongst anarchists - does one vote, or not vote? I used to waver as well, but I now stand firmly on the not-vote side.

Firstly - voting is the system by which people cast a ballot to choose which rich aristocrat will rule over them. Whether it's a more lenient master or a more brutal master, it is still a master. Sure, we could toss our vote to the lenient one and say 'I want you to rule me', in the hopes he'll throw you a bone or two. But in another 4 years you've got to choose masters again, and because you've done nothing to damage this system permanently, you're back at square one again.

Secondly - by voting, your actions are stating that you acknowledge that your life and well-being are up for vote, and rather than stand aside and say 'I won't have any participation in this illegitimate charade', you toss in the vote in your favor with hopes that most other people don't wish to have you controlled. Your actions says to everyone that you accept the terms that if the majority will it, it shall be done.

Thirdly - if you vote, you can't complain. If the system puts into power a dictator, by the very rules of the voting game, you can't whine that it's not what you wanted. When you tossed in your vote, you agreed to the rules, and you have to accept whatever the end result is, despite the obvious immorality of it. The election of the Nazi Party was in full line with democracy. You can't place your bet on the roulette table and then pull it out after the wheel has stopped spinning. You must accept every outcome of the democratic process, including whatever wars, taxation, laws, etc are put into place by the officials as democracy at its fulfillment. It is the essential trap of the State - your participation damns you and puts a hold on you.

Fourthly - you cannot remove the State through the State mechanism. Trying to do such only validates the State itself. If you must try to work through the system to take out the system, then that means that the State is necessary. Anarchy must be achieved by a separate route from the State mechanism.

Fifthly - your vote doesn't matter. There are only two primary options in the election. There are millions of people. Your vote will not decide the election. Let the people who are still stuck on the necessity of the State vote Ron Paul in. But you ought to stay away from the polls, or at least make a fuss about the illegitimacy of rule. You accomplish more in changing minds than you do hitting the poll.

Sixthly - VOTING IS NOT MANDATORY. Unlike taxes, the State doesn't put a gun to your head and tell you to vote (yet). You are uncoerced. Would you assist the State by taxation if you weren't held at gunpoint to do so? Of course not. So why would you vote, assisting the State in its shroud of legitimacy, if you're not forced to? Don't ever voluntarily give away your freedom or support the looters and leeches! If they put a gun to your head, go ahead and vote for a write-in candidate. But make them hold the gun, and make sure it's exposed!

Finally - in order to take down the State, we need to rid it of it's facade of being the legitimate desires of 'the people'. By participating, we get lumped into 'the people', and become part of their statistic of voters. The smaller the number of voters compared to the population, the less they can honestly make the claim that their rule is the will of the majority. As it is, it is only a small fraction of the population that decide the presidency. We should be seeking to widen this gap between the number of voters and the population number, to shrink the voting population to the point where nobody can deny that it is in fact a small number of people acting as dictators over the rest of us.

This should be the goal to toppling the State - delegitimizing it. If we force the gun out in the open, destroy this conception of 'majority will', then we can enagage in non-violent disassociation from the State, stop obeying laws, paying taxes, etc., and be seen or what we are, fighters for freedom, rather than as criminals. Until the shroud is lifted, that's all we are to most. So don't help this facade to go on - withhold your vote, and take a stand that your freedom is not up for someone else to decide!