Theme A really struck me as interesting because, while I do see how participation does go hand in hand with the virtue of the citizen, I would be interested to see how the act of voting fits into this picture. As members of a democratic state we are all encouraged to go and cast our ballot as if it constituted an adequate degree of participation. In fact, those who do not vote are generally seen as lazy and irresponsible. Is this necessarily true though? As one commenter pointed out: if one sees no value in voting for the options available yet participates actively in social affairs, then perhaps there is a sense in which they can be forgiven for their abstention? It struck me that there was perhaps more virtue in this than a mere complacent voting strategy; maybe one shouldn't settle for the best of out of the miserable options and instead make it his or her duty to become the candidate he or she would vote for.
While this does sound appealing, I think there is a certain degree in which it is a fiction. The truth is, due to the corruption of the political system, I would argue that it needs to be reworked- or maybe even overthrown! Instead of becoming the candidate we would vote for, wouldn't it be the virtuous thing to reach for something higher; why not become the citizens we want to be in the society that we want to live in. 'Hold on one second', cries the objector, 'don't you see how naive that is? Democracy is in place specifically because people disagree about what they want! If it wasn't for democracy we would still be resorting to violence to achieve our political ideals! Respect the system, and everything will be ok.' I would, predictably, beg to differ. Firstly, I'm not calling for the destruction of democracy; I am calling for its restoration! Two things need to change if society wishes to benefit from a democracy; a) corruption needs to be removed from the electoral process, and b) people need to actually care about political affairs. While it tends to be the non-voters that are called lazy and irresponsible, could it partly be true that voters, insofar as they put up with a corrupt political system and perpetuate it by voting, are also lazy and irresponsible to some degree? 'But who are you to call use lazy!'- the truth hurts me just as much as it hurts you. I think democracy says a lot more about human nature than people would like to think.
I think it should be clear by now that the act of voting does not presuppose an interest in, or even a knowledge of political affairs; if that were the case imagine the utopia we would live in! If you actually took the time to analyse the reasons people give to justify their vote you will either be struck by the naivety or their blatant ignorance. There are those who even see voting in the non-political realm. For instance, I recently met two people who are selling their votes for 25$ a pop. So much for the inherent virtue in voting, eh? There are even folks who vote for reasons that contradict basic democratic principles; 'I'm not voting PQ because they are for the separation!' I'm not even a separatist and I can see the absurdity in that position. For one, speaking democratically: shouldn't there be a referendum for anything if there is sufficient public support? Wouldn't suppressing this real urge among citizens only lead to greater resentment from said citizens? Secondly, separation is a relatively dead issue (only something like 28% of people in Quebec support it), so maybe it would be best to let it have its moment so that Quebec can move on. One only has to watch René Lévesque's speech following the failure of a prior referendum in 1980 to see how much we have grown out of that nationalistic furore.
I guess the basic thing I'm trying to say is: maybe we should see voting as signifying our non-virtue rather than virtue. Perhaps political virtue is something that goes on the streets and demands change, not something that hides its head in the sand until it is asked to come out.
Tomorrow is the big day. I will keep you posted.
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