Jim Moore: Eleven good reasons to become a nonvoter. Be free! Become a non-voter today! Help form the Nonvoter party. He’s even launched a new blog on the topic.
I appreciate where Jim’s coming from – and he’s certainly aiming to stir the pot in a constructive way – inviting us to think differently about government. My initial thoughts are: But how do we build that highway? How do we get a more efficient public transport system? These things take a lot more money and effort than organising kids to clean a park… How do we keep business in check on environmental issues? What about the question of deciding where our taxes go (after all, even if we work around government we’re still paying taxes)?
I would like to think a little more on Jim’s post – thinking outside the square about how society could function by working around government. But there are some things that I think government is best served to manage – perhaps not the form of government we have now, but conceptually where a representative democracy can play a valuable role. Food for thought nonetheless (which I think is the point).