Have you Voted?

[Vekseid]

This was originally posted just before the US 2008 elections. The title may be accused of being misleading.



Something many keen investors look for, when they evaluate a business startup, is whether or not the company is a one man (or woman) show, or if they have a partner on board. The reasoning ought to be fairly obvious - if someone cannot convince their own friends that they have a good idea, or worse, has no friends, it does not reflect well on that company. Even if neither of these issues are actually present, there is still a deep concern. For one, there is no obvious person with an emotional attachment to the company who can criticize potentially hazardous decisions.

I can go on, but the general idea here ought to be fairly obvious, and you've probably heard it in various forms throughout your life. Two cooperating people are more effective than they are individually - roughly twice as effective, in many situations, and of course that is assuming that they are not working at cross purposes.

A common mantra in American elections is that one person is not capable of making a difference. This is, of course, true on a technicality. One single person, who does not speak out, who does not communicate, has no hope of making a difference. One single person that never makes their ideas known cannot hope to test them against the minds of others. Unspoken ideas do not spread.

Although many people like to talk about how the elections in 2000 and 2004 were stolen, whether or not that is true, it took a great deal more than that for Bush to get elected. As difficult as it is to currently believe, there were people that he inspired, and these people took to reelecting George W. Bush on a very personal level. For all of their merits, during their elections, neither Kerry nor Gore were particularly inspiring. Neither was Dole, H.W. Bush, Mondale, or Carter. Perot inspired people, but Americans do not care for quitters.

Fighting against inspiration when you have none - no matter the quality of said inspiration - is always an uphill battle. 'Not Bush' did not work. Most of you have probably heard the cries - "Nobama!"

Although there is a good twenty hours from the time of this posting until the election gets called, you can imagine my confidence in them. It seems a pretty fair percentage of Americans think similarly.

One person may be powerless, but two people can make a good start. Be open with your ideas and discuss them, because they are the foundation of nations. It is important - critical, even - to inspect them from time to time, and patch them where needed. That concept - the idea that America can be refined - has actively been under attack in the United States this past decade.

No mighty nation has fallen without some form of internal complacency. It would behoove anyone who considers themselves a patriot - of any country - to reflect on what that means for their state.

Because the lesser of two evils is not choosing the less bad of two candidates.

The lesser of two evils is doing nothing about it.



So, for every resident of the United States that reads this.

Have you voted?

And more importantly.

Have you asked your friends?