Today, once again, we have the most important, crucial election in the history of mankind. The fate of the planet, solar system, galaxy, and universe depends upon it. Even God is worried, praying. Maybe it will provoke an extinction level event.

I, personally, will not vote. I will not vote because what I value most is not represented on the ballot; my liberty, my freedom, my personal sovereignty. I do not question the legality of the process. I question its legitimacy. Since I deem it illegitimate and I believe in the non-aggression principle, I choose not to participate in any process I deem illegitimate. I do not question that I will be legally bound, against my will, to whatever the outcome is.

I find it so ironic that we masquerade by voting as if those in power truly care about our consent. They designed a world where we have only privileges to be granted at their discretion. They require that we ask their permission to do just about anything and everything. I thought our Founders signed a Declaration of Independence, not a Declaration of Dependence. I thought the Bill of Rights placed constraints and limitations on government, not a Bill of Privileges granted at their discretion and enforced with violence. I understood government required our consent, not that the governed required the consent from those who govern. Wow, have I gotten things so wrong!

Every major candidate on the ballot today agree on most issues. They all campaign on the fact that;

• Our children and grandchildren will be burdened by an odious debt accumulated without their consent.
• I cannot buy what I want to buy if they do not like where it is made.
• I cannot sell my property (my property!) if they do not like who I am selling it to.
• I cannot use my property as I see appropriate and in a way that maximizes my utility function without their consent.
• I cannot start a business without their permission.
• I cannot hire who I want to hire.
• I cannot fire who I want to fire.
• I cannot set wages I deem appropriate in my business even if set by mutual consent.
• I am compelled to work half of my life to benefit them and others who engage in coercion to confiscate my property for someone else’s use. (In fact, it’d be criminal of me to claim my property as mine, instead of only keeping the percentage I have permission to have.)
• I cannot move without telling the government my new residence.
• I cannot perform certain jobs without obtaining an occupational license.
• I cannot buy and sell with the money I choose because of legal tender laws.
• I cannot go anywhere without being monitored through warrantless surveillance.
• The president can invade any country at this discretion because of an unconditional grant of authority called an Authorization for Use of Military Force. (By the way, who consented to pay for these endless wars? I guess the generation not yet born granted their consent through proxy to the president…)

By now, hopefully you understand why I choose not to vote. It is a masquerade. All those running are vehemently against any claim I make to my property, my liberty, my freedom, my personal sovereignty.

They have perverted, with bipartisan support, a system that was designed to place a check on them and preserve our inalienable rights into a system that places a tight leash on all our necks. Our rights have been debased into privileges. And apparently we have granted our consent to be indentured servants who require permission for just about everything. Every day we wake up guilty and try to spend the day proving our innocence. Rinse and repeat day after day.

I refuse to participate in this charade, this “democratic” masquerade.

I think Lysander Spooner said it so well:

The fact is that the government, like a highwayman, says to a man: Your money, or your life…The government does not, indeed, waylay a man in a lonely place, spring upon him from the road side and, holding a pistol to his head, proceed to rifle his pockets. But the robbery is none the less a robbery on that account; and it is far more dastardly and shameful. The highwayman takes solely upon himself the responsibility, danger, and crime of his own act. He does not pretend that he has any rightful claim to your money, or that he intends to use it for your own benefit. He does not pretend to be anything but a robber…Furthermore, having taken your money, he leaves you as you wish him to do. He does not persist in following you on the road, against your will; assuming to be your rightful “sovereign,” on account of the ‘protection’ he affords you.

All of these candidates on the ballot reject my personal sovereignty. I refuse to participate in a “choice” of who will be my master in a master/slave relationship. If the ballots were honest, the choice would be between Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. (Or maybe Tweedle Dumber and Tweedle Dumber). We have competing forms of authoritarianism on the ballot, but nowhere is liberty, freedom, and personal sovereignty to be found.

If we had any integrity whatsoever, we would stop celebrating Independence Day. Perhaps change the name to national Beer and Barbecue Day for the sake of accuracy. We should return the Statue of Liberty.

I already know the outcome of this election. I will be required to give permission for even more things. My debt burden will grow, both balance sheet debt and unfunded liabilities. We will continue killing people in countless countries. More sanctions. More trade wars. More money debasement. Less privileges. No rights.

My forecast for this evening’s results is that whomever wins, I lose. Anyone who believes in freedom, liberty, and personal sovereignty is a guaranteed loser today.