Re: Voting
October 20, 2010
I tell people that voting is like being a prisoner in a penitentiary. Every four years the prisoners get to vote for the warden. One candidate for the job promises larger cells for the inmates; the other promises improved food in the cafeteria and, perhaps, longer exercise time. Whichever candidate gets the most votes will be the next warden. It is understood, however, that the inmates will remain in prison; getting to secede from the system is not an option for them.
I liken the voting booth to one of those private booths in an adult bookstore, wherein people can engage in activities they would not want others to know about. But then, we are back to Carlin‘s point, aren’t we?
Butler Shaffer was Professor Emeritus at Southwestern University School of Law. He is the author of In Restraint of Trade: The Business Campaign Against Competition, 1918–1938, Calculated Chaos: Institutional Threats to Peace and Human Survival, and Boundaries of Order. His latest book is The Wizards of Ozymandias.

