imported post
redlegagent wrote:
"endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights" - Okay, what creator are we discussing here?
Doesn't matter. The creator of your choice. Even athiests believe they were created by some process of nature. Jefferson wisely, or luckily, used a vague word there.
I wonder, though. You seem critical of the key idea behind the Declaration. Do you not believe you were born with the right to be free? If not, why do you think you have a right to carry a gun? Shouldn't you just go along with the majority when they vote to ban them? Not being a jerk, here, it's a serious question, I'm wondering what your basic philosophy is and how it ticks. You seem to be in the "positive rights" school.
To try to stear back on topic:
I understand what you're saying about participating in government. And that's fine. But you are still wrong to say not voting means abdication of the right to bitch.
I happen to believe that for the most part, voting is meaningless, except in local or state. Worse, it contributes to the legitmization of a coercive, some say tyrannical even,system. When you buy into majority rule, than you have committed yourself to abide by that rule, even when they come to take your guns, your books, your money, or even round people up for political crime. Anything the government does to people is legitimized by your willing participation, for good or bad.
If you are naive, you can tell yourself you are only voting for those who abdicate liberty, but the time for such naivety passed by the time you were old enough to vote. Even the "good" politicians these days are anti-liberty, excepting only a very small number, small enough to count on one hand.
The worst is those who vote for a bad candidate because they think the other will be worse. You are, of course, endorsing the bad policies of your candidate by voting for him. The correct choice here is to vote for a no-chance candidate (call it a "protest vote" if you like), or not to vote at all.
Don't give the bastards the satisfaction, in other words. Once you have worked to restore a system of liberty, voting becomes meaningful once again. And you won't restore liberty by endorsing anti-liberty politicians.