24 Hours

It is hard to vote for the lesser of two evils when you are not into evil. This is the paradox of voting. More finely, it is the corner we’ve been painted into. Yes, of course – one can choose not to vote for evil, lesser or greater. But does it do anything to prevent the greater evil? And if it doesn’t, then isn’t effectively aiding the greater evil?

As long as the evil of voting exists – this idea that plebiscites are a legitimate way to do things that almost everyone agrees would be immoral things if done on an individual basis, such as taking what isn’t yours from someone else or threatening others with violent repercussions if they fail to do as you say – then casting a vote can be seen as an act of self-defense. A way to cancel the vote of some other person – your neighbor, perhaps – who wants to take your money but hasn’t got the guts to do it himself. Or who wants to tell you what you’re allowed to do (and not do) but is too much of a poltroon to try doing that himself, either.

But if you vote for the lesser of two evils, some argue, then you are giving sanction to everything the person you voted for ends up doing. This is silly. It is especially silly as regards actions the person you voted for has yet to perform. You do not have a crystal ball. More to the point, you cannot be held morally responsible for the actions of another – especially when you have no idea what those actions might be.

Perhaps – in the case of Trump – you are voting for him because of things he has specifically said he will do, such as staunch the flow of (literally) hordes of people from no-one-knows-exactly where into this country. That is a reasonably self-defensive vote. It does not mean you also vote in favor of other things Trump might do – or even things he has done. That latter is a non sequitur because Trump alone is responsible for what Trump chooses to do, just like the rest of us. Yes, he midwifed the “beautiful vaccines” and that was a terrible thing. But unless you actually voted for that – specifically – then how can anyone say you voted for that?

I will be voting for Trump tomorrow because I do think – I hope – he is the lesser of two evils. More finely, because I am certain of the evil of his opponents. They have told us what they intend to do – including end the Electoral College so as to assure that cities controlled by the Left control the country, the door-to-door “buyback” of firearms so as to assure we are defenseless against common criminals as well as the criminal government and the application of a federal property tax based on “unrealized gains” that will very effectively render working and middle class homeownership financially untenable.

You will also be forced out of your car – and into a battery powered device. Assuming you can afford one. There are likely to be “carbon lockdowns” and energy rationing based upon what they call your “carbon footprint.”

None of this is exaggerated or fear-mongering. They have openly let us know what they plan to do if they get the chance and that will include cementing what they do via the installation of perhaps two or even three new Supreme Court “justices” of the Jackson-Brown (oops , that’s a singer, not a communist) variety who will rule that the truth is no defense because it is “misinformation” when the government finds the truth inconvenient. Who will rule the Second Amendment does not protect the right of you or me or anyone not in the employ of government as an enforcer of some kind to possess the means of self-defense.

These are very great evils, are they not?

It is absolutely true that Trump may and likely will do evil things as well – such as lap the buttocks of Benjamin Netanyahu or whomever runs the regime of that frictious but powerful little country in the Middle East. But I am not voting for that by casting my vote for Trump anymore than I vote to keep the prison I’ll  probably one day be a resident of in charge of a warden who is less sadistic than one who is more so.

That is the only choice open to us in terms of what’s on the ballot tomorrow – and I’ll vote for it without guilt and in the hope that (if he wins) Trump will prove to be not evil at all. But even if he’s only the lesser, is it still not better?

Idealists – and I am one – are naturally uncomfortable with this. But we live in a less-than-ideal world and so long as we do live in it, is it not rational – is it not reasonable – to do what can be done rather than nothing at all?

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