Not Voting

The recent election marked a milestone for me. I faced the question of modern democracy and decided never to vote for an office seeker again.

The question is: How can candidates spend so very much more money than the office pays? The answer is increasingly clear: The millions in cash with which my vote is seduced come mostly from people who expect to get it back with interest from the candidates who accepted it. If this were not true, businessmen would soon stop making such investments.

It follows, then, that elected officials do not in any direct way represent me; they must represent those who paid for expensive campaigns, and my vote is merely part of the score in a cynical con game.

In this election I voted for or against all the propositions but not once for any state or federal candidate. Fewer and fewer citizens are willing to play the patsy in the election game, and I predict that trend will continue as more of us face up to the fraudulent nature of our modern version of democracy.

WILLARD OLNEY

Hesperia