anarchei:

Per Bylund:

There have been endless discussions among libertarians “even the anarchist variety” about the meaning of voting. Somehow, it seems, we cannot agree on what it means to vote: Is it self-defence to support the “lesser evil” or is it not? And even if we believe it is not, many libertarians cannot help casting a ballot on Election Day; they cannot resist the urge to spend their time, money, and energy to support a candidate that seems to be closest to their own in terms of values and ideals — even if that candidate is not very close at all. 

The Common Setup

Before we get into discussing the meaning of ballot-casting, we need to set some things straight. Many make a number of mistakes in trying to prove that they are doing nothing wrong by voting; we need to avoid making the same mistakes. For instance, the choice of the “lesser evil” is a choice between evils. This simple truth follows directly from the constitution and meaning of “lesser evil.” Also, it assumes a very limited number of choices — choosing the lesser of two evils means there are only two choices. Of course, I would choose shooting myself in the foot before doing the same in my head at any time — but this conclusion holds only if I had no choice whatsoever but to pick only one of the two. 

Picking the “lesser of two evils,” it must be concluded, is a universal truth of action. In terms of opportunity cost, any actor would choose that action which maximises the anticipated outcome. This is true even if all alternatives are in the negative, for, as Mises pointed out, “[t]he incentive that impels a man to act is always some uneasiness” and the purpose of taking action is to remove that uneasiness. In this sense, does it not make sense to vote? 

The answer is no, and the reason for this is quite simple: No election day provides a setup with only such a limited set of choices. The choice to be made, in America, is not between Republicans and Democrats, but between the aforementioned parties and available third party candidates — and not voting at all. (The latter, of course, implies positive value, since your time and energy can be used productively.) Even in countries where voting is compulsory, such as in Australia, there are ways of not supporting any of the parties through either casting a blank ballot, voting for oneself, or even doing one’s best in making the ballot invalid. 

Now that we have rid ourselves of some of the annoying misconceptions of the act of voting, let us move on to evaluate the meaning of the action. We have now established that it simply doesn’t make sense to shoot oneself in the foot (unless one has a masochist bent) if the available options are a shot in the head and not pulling the trigger at all. Considering a normal actor and Mises’ insight, Election Day should not see many libertarians casting their ballots if they see it as an evil act. This brings us to the analysis of the act itself, and whether it is indeed an act of evil. 

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