The Preface
We are in a time and place, in human history, where everything we do and are and will become is directly related to, and affects, our spiritual existence. Nothing can escape this reality. Though we thrive on platitudes, find convictions in our illusions and comfort in our denials there comes a time when these things will not sustain us. A greater faith in the miracle and value of life must manifest in the form of open honesty and essential courage. This is our time.
This writer is not out of place, nor does he detour from the purpose he serves, by addressing the collective demographics of our nation and (to each measure) that of all nations.
For Americans and global considerations.
To begin this commentary there are some very real questions to ask. Do you vote? Do you appreciate and comprehend the remarkable country you live in…whereby you have the liberty to think for yourself, make your own decisions as to where you live, where you work, what religion (or lack of religion) you choose to practice, marry whom you wish? The list goes on and on regarding the details of your living in a nation of incredible liberties offered nowhere else in human history.
This Republic was structured by some very intelligent and wise men who had ‘first hand’ insight into the oppressions of the ‘old world’. They struggled with the contradictions within their own lives and social circumstances versus the idealisms they held so dear. They structured a Republic that provided for a voting democracy to select those who would lead and serve it. Now, 260+ years later, we are still ‘a work in progress’; but, we remain the most remarkable experiment for human dignity ever conceived in the known history of humanity.
The individuals’ right and privilege to vote for those to represent and serve is a precious thing offered to few on the planet. I recall an event in Asia. It now seems so long ago. When, as a young man, a company of young men was assigned to protect a futile experiment in voting. I saw men and women die attempting to reach a voting location. I saw young soldiers doing the best they could to protect them….and, watched many of these young men die in the effort.
Therefore, I take this issue of voting very seriously. If you do not vote….shame on you. And, if you do not make a serious effort to understand the issues at hand and the reality of the choices you make at the voting booth, shame on you again. A responsible voter is not lazy about what is going on in this precious experiment of the Republic of the United States of America; and, how important it is to the perpetuation of human worth throughout the planet. There are billions of others watching you.
And, ultimately, an authentic voter is not lazy when it comes to exercising this privilege. Standing in line, being physically present, casting your vote by your own hand is the real ‘voter citizen’.
Defining voters
I have now lived to see and experience 16 presidents, can’t keep count of the ‘congresses’. Politicians come and go. Along the way, it has become obvious there are a variety of voters, a variety of motives by which people vote. The political world is very aware of this variety and finds it necessary to focus on which ‘variety’ to lure and appease in order to gain and maintain their position. You could very well make your own list; but, this is mine. And, as you ponder these items you just might see and agree with most of them.
Let’s begin with the ‘Constitutional Puritan’ voter. Over time, this brand of voter becomes a rare commodity. This individual does not vote for what is personally most beneficial. The essential criteria for his/her vote is determined by what will preserve, protect and perpetuate the principles of the Constitution and preserve the liberties within the Bill of Rights.
This ‘voter’ is the only theoretically legitimate voter in a real Democratic Republic. As far as I can tell, the Libertarian comes closest to this definition. Of course, this can be plus or minus depending upon the face to face dialogue one would have with any particular ‘Libertarian’.
I, for one, am a Constitutional Puritan. And, have never allowed my personal interests, insecurities or benefits influence my vote. Unfortunately, I, like every voter, must always decide upon ‘the lesser of two or more evils’. To be clear, there have been moments, individuals, running for a public and/or national office that have not been considered a ‘lesser of two evils’. Why…you may ask.
Such an individual will actually state, in voice and written word, what their agenda is (in specifics..not just platitudes), what their ‘platform’ is, what they will actually do and why. This forthright honesty is unusual. It defies all the principles of politics. This ‘political principle’ is “tell people what they want to hear, not what they need to hear”.
Next, is the private sector special interest voter. This is the overwhelming majority of the voting populous. From pharmaceuticals to babysitters, big tech to military, farmers to WIC recipients, lawyers and judges to prisons, the list could go on. Colleges to local schools to charter schools, oil and mining industries to environmental groups, ‘lemonade stands’ for kids to international trade, immigration invasions to national sovereignty, the AMA versus holistic medicine, from killing a fetus to the sanctity of life, from generations of welfare recipients and professionals to the hard working independent persons’ political mandate to support them, the special interests list can go on and on. All are with a personal sense of gain and loss within the course of ‘politics’.
Each, to his/her own measure, is a ‘mercenary voter’. Why? Because these voters are ‘for sale’ to the highest bidder. To be clear, a ‘mercenary’, by definition, is one who provides a service to a principle party for a price or benefit, without consideration of loyalty or fundamental principles.
Within this definition, those who use the Constitutional principles to oblige their exclusive personal interests, at the potential detriment of the liberties the Constitution provides for them, fall within the definition of a ‘political mercenary’.
Mercenary Consequences
Imagine, for a moment, many generations of people, many congresses composed of folks elected because they promised something. Those ‘promises’ were especially to the people who paid for their campaign to be elected. Perhaps it may have also contained a portion of what the ‘voter’ wanted, though it may or may not have been well defined, or perfectly presented lies.
After a few hundred years of ‘promises’ the entire matter of what the founding ‘fathers’ of this most excellent Constitution intended has been adulterated to the point it is almost unrecognizable. The long-term ‘establishment’ of the ‘swamp’ (as it is called today) wants this vagueness and ignorance to prevail among the population of ‘voters’.
The ‘swamp’ is an interesting study, in and of itself. It mostly consists of generations of people connected with and within the governmental structures. This is mostly in positions appointed or as ‘in-house’ positions based upon past affiliations or family connections. It also consists of industries dependent upon the taxation system to fund their overt and covert enterprises. This scenario numbers in the thousands, even millions, of ‘mercenary voters’. Each and everyone within these categories has a higher income, guaranteed, more long-term benefits, job security and items that would enrage the common person laboring and paying for it.
This is just the tip of the ‘swamp’. The point is….when you vote for your ‘special interests’ you are magnifying the political nepotism that will keep you subjugated to their opulence and ‘control mechanisms’.
More subjugating by way of the mercenary vote
Ronald Reagan once said the nine most terrifying words for Americans are “I am from the government and here to help”. The pivot point to this conclusion was during the Lyndon Johnson presidency when the ‘great society’ agenda was introduced. It was during this time that things like HUD (Housing and Urban Development) became a big thing. I, like Malcolm X, knew what this was really about.
It was a deliberately designed method of rounding-up specific demographics of people into concentrated locations and making them dependents of the government. Through this ‘dependency,’ this populous was manageable and a dependable votership to continue the political system as it was intended….a variant of a ‘socialist oligarchy’.
As Malcolm X once said “this is no more or less than a variant of concentration camps”. Nearly sixty years later, they are exactly that; and, still provide the support predicted for the ‘oligarchy’ of government.
As understandable as it is, this is an example of a ‘mercenary votership’….voting to preserve ones ‘self interests’ while diminishing the principles of individual liberty.
Note: The by-product of these urban concentration camps is, today, most self evident…shameful and totally preventable. Yet, they do produce the voters who are dependent upon the government to survive; thus, the ‘mercenary vote’.
The ‘Traditionalist of Ignorance’
Then, there is this unique character who has the family tradition of being in a particular ‘political party’ and will stay there. They usually vote a ‘straight ticket’ based solely upon political party affiliation. These are the most mindless hypocrites of all. I have found, in general, they are very good people. Yet, they lack the deductive capacity to comprehend both the camellia of politic and the contradictions within their own life conduct and principles by which they live. In this, they are grand hypocrites without any awareness of it.
This paradox is usually influenced by simple word identity or the ‘special interests’ of one or more significant persons within their immediate circles. Yet, the greatest hypocrisy lies within their personal and professional interests that foregoes any considerations for the Constitutional liberties they are using that contradicts their personal interest and actions.
This subtle hypocrisy exists from farmers to the internet gurus to many forms of business to those within government to public education and any number of facets of life. And, in this, I personally, have the greatest disdain.
In other words, using the liberties of our Constitutional Republic in a manner that deteriates, and ultimately destroys those liberties, and with no consideration for the future of those who would live with these consequences, is a gravest of evils. Yet, most of these people will never be intellectually capable of grasping their own hypocrisy. So, they will continue their blind support of something contradicting everything they inwardly value and the freedom of enterprise they are enjoying while also destroying it.
Covert Political Agendas
On the forefront of a democracy’s demise are a variety of mindless arrogances. The educated-ignorant and arrogant, the spoiled youth with no talents or skills or courage to live a civil life, groups who blame everyone but themselves for their ineptitudes, members of organizations and institutions who have lost the admirable purposes of their origins and perverted them into ‘cults of irrational selfishness’, industries (such as entertainment and sports) assuming a high ground of virtue as they make a living pretending to be someone else or play games in opulence that the children play in the backyard just for fun, corporations and politicians with no concept of constitutional virtues who sell their souls to those relent upon the destruction of a society with those virtues. There are those who are of a religious and cultural background that have no regard for the constitutional liberties they are provided and are relent upon replacing it with their theocratic tyranny.
Yes, I (and you) can very well list the specific groups and demographics above referred to. And, those who actually read this document may well fall within any one of these categories; but, will make every effort to deny it.
Credibility in Crisis
Now, I have another question. If you do vote, would you like to have your vote protected by the assurance there are not many others, with absolutely no right to vote, nullifying the integrity of your vote? Is your vote actually being counted? Think about these questions, so you understand them.
The question is relevant: there are millions of people in America today who are not citizens of this precious nation but are voting.
You may ask how this could be. The answer is a little complex. Most simply, we do not have a national, uniform citizenship identity structure in America.
- State by state (and, often, county by county) the requirements to prove your identity and citizenship are different. In many states, the requirement is almost non-existent. The ‘honor system’ is used. Your voting card is presented to you just because you said you were who you were. People lie.
- In many states, there is the ‘motor-voter’ policy. Simply provide an address in the state and you get a drivers’ license and can register to vote. You do not need to provide any further proof of your legitimacy for living in this country. (California is a fine example of this corrupted stupidity.)
- Many states allow internet voting. This is a ‘wild west’ policy of voting anarchy. For example, how many email addresses can you invent? How many identities can you imagine? How many other folks can you get that have a fabricated identity and help them vote?
- Note: Regardless of the technical world we live in there are still many things, such as ‘voting’, that should never avail itself to an artificial act subject to the most covert lies imaginable.. If you are too lazy and/or afraid of the real world, you need not vote at all. Get off your ass and vote, in person, in a real voting location.
- There are early ballots, late ballots, contingency ballots…ballots of all kinds of devious definitions. The only real, legitimate/deviant ballot is an absentee ballot; and, it must be one totally justified and submitted prior to an election. Note: As I worked away from home many decades, my absentee ballot was verified (every time) by a notary public; whereby, I submitted all valid identity and filled it out in the notary presence, addressed it, stamped it, and had it ready to mail in his/her presence. Often, the notary would take my photo and copy my Identification material. I insisted they do so. The point is; a vote is a sacred thing and any person who criminalizes this act is just that…a criminal…and should be prosecuted to all the available laws of the nation……not only those who committed this fraud against a legitimate democracy but those who assisted in the act.
- The old conflict. Yes, I admit, for the most part, I am a defender of states’ rights versus federalist intrusion upon the states. This conflict has existed long before the civil war and continues today in its’ various forms.
However, we have a structure, as a republic, that provides a representative system that dictates policy and law for the entire nation. This representation comes from all the states. The majority of any particular opinion or perspective has a controlling leverage in what all the states and, thus, nation, will do and be. It is this reality that calls for a standardization of the voting citizenship requirements. And, these requirements, to be honorable, must be defined by legitimate evidence and verifiable.
- It’s real simple. If you cannot prove you are here legally and a citizen (by a specifically defined, nationalized law) you cannot vote.
- This sounds simple and logical. However, let’s face other realities. There are groups within our nation who do not want simple and logical solutions. There are groups and devious groups and political parties who take advantage of the national anarchy of voter illegitimacy.
The Mercenary Voters’ Self Demise
Alas, the eventual demise of attempts to establish and maintain a Democracy, throughout history, has been the mercenary aspects of the public and the politic.
And, alas, America is now comprised of a mercenary voter public. That, most likely, includes you, to some degree.
Again, what is a mercenary voter? Most simply, it is a person who votes on issues and for candidates that appear to personally profit the voters ‘self-interests’. It is a vote for sale to the highest bidder. It does not consider the immediate or long-term consequences that affect the well-being of the nation. It does not consider the burden or negative impact the vote will have upon the posterity of the nation. In other words….if it greases your wallet you will vote for it….and, without consideration of ‘ethics’ or eventual consequences others may have to endure or correct.
The mercenary voter principle applies to politicians, public office holders and the entire governmental population, as well. A person in an elected position must make promises to the public and special interests in order to get elected. It’s just a fact. Now, think about it….in every election cycle, these promises are made; and, over hundreds of years the accumulated burden of promises, becomes unsustainable.
- Every promise requires some form of structure, agency, program, policy that is staffed by people to service the promise.
- Every promise creates a dependency on two levels….the people receiving the benefits of the promise and those who are expediting the promise.
- Eventually, a collective of humans becomes co-dependent with few left, if any, to provide the resources to sustain the promises.
This is where we are today.
An Inseparable Relevance
Whether we like it or not, life-religions-our spiritual nature-politics, all these aspects of our existence are tied together and affect each other. To ignore or avoid any one issue out of fear or having to take an honest look at ourselves is simple weakness, if not downright cowardly.
Here, in this commentary, I have dared a sincere honesty about myself and you.
Clay Howard
(This article was first written in 1981, published in ‘The American Editorial Free Press’ in 1995. It is in its current form with addendums to address current events.)
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