One thought on voting economics

There will always be men who naturally will follow the rules and diktats of others. There will always be men willing to kill to have them enforced.

One of the institutions such people support is the democratic vote. They love and demand democracy because they can fall back onto the 'will of the people' as the bogeyman to blame for their atrocities. "If you don't like the laws I'm enforcing, go change it" referring, of course, to a process which the 'law-makers' THEMSELVES set the rules for.

Knowing that there will always be people willing to murder in the name of the 'law,' think for a moment about the voters. Think about the economics of voting...

Economics teaches us that when the cost of any product or service is below the market equilibrium, there will be over-consumption. A conscientious voter -- one who takes the time to learn the issues, the candidates, reads the texts of the proposed laws, etc. -- is paying a cost. But that cost doesn't increase the value of their vote. Their vote is 'worth' (in terms of decision-making power) the exact same as someone who threw darts at the ballot and voted for the name that was stuck.

In essence, the conscientious voter, to the extent his vote improves the overall election, is giving to charity. Only by his voluntary decision to expend the cost, does the final election improve microscopically for it.

Wishful thinking, however, is absolutely free. Lots of people are more than happy to imagine all the wonderful things politicians promise them. Considering economics then, there should be a vast over-consumption of wishful thinking, and a significantly limited amount of conscientious action.

It's no surprise that's exactly what we observe.

Considering this fact -- that an overabundance of wishful thinking is used in deciding votes -- it seems rather dangerous (insane maybe) to perpetuate such an institution knowing full well there are men ready to inflict violence in order to support it.

Voluntaryism (and its natural political outcome; anarchy) does not depend on people magically changing their nature. It recognizes their nature, and proposes that the removal of institutions based on force is the most effective way to eliminate violence, coercion, and atrocity.