Back before the dawn of time, or maybe it was the 90s, there was briefly a movement to put "none of the above" on the ballot. That'll show'em, people thought! None of the above wins! Well, gets 10% anyway! That'll change things! They'll have to listen to "us" (whoever "us" is) now!
I'm glad that's no longer a movement, as I think if I read more than one "Why I'm Voting for NOTA" essay on the internet the law would not hold me responsible for my subsequent actions.
Don't vote if you don't want to. Vote for your cat if you want to. Unlike some people, I don't think it really matters much. Your vote is not actually going to sway the election, and I doubt your "Who I Am Voting For" or similar essay is going to sway it either. The people running for office to win (there are other reasons to run) do have a task. That task is assembling a coalition of people who will vote for them in enough numbers in the right states. They might not actually care about your vote! Probably not enough to make a personal phone call to you in order to ask for it, anyway, or to implement your 15 point plan verbatim. That coalition might not include you because, frankly, the SUPERTRAIN coalition is probably pretty small.
Sure it's fun pointing out how all the sheeple are voting for the wrong person, that damn MONORAIL supporter, or making sure that everybody knows about the purity of your essences. If that's your hobby, have fun! Just don't kid yourself that the purity of your essences are going to change the world. They aren't. Most of the things any of us do aren't going to change the world, from our individual vote to our exciting arguments with strangers on the internet. Some people do work hard to change the world, and have an impact (often a very bad impact). Most of us, not so much.
This isn't an argument against voting. Vote! It's just that whether you vote for Clinton, Stein, Trump, Kang, Kodos, your cat, Gary Busey, whoever, voting is really the bare minimum that you and a couple of hundred million or so other people can choose to do. Don't think it makes you special, or that you're such a special snowflake that the reasons for your vote must be shared with the world. Who cares. It's boring.
