Why I Will NOT Be Voting This Election

Just an FYI before I get started, I write not to influence you, but to express that which is meaningful to me, because not to do so would be an act of self-silencing (and thus self-violence). I write because my Soul and my body desire to express. I have no expectations that you understand, and certainly not that you change your mind. I know what it takes to change one's mind; without curiosity and desire to know a different truth that has not yet presented itself, minds remain status quo. So be it.

It's no longer about red or blue.

I have always known that politics is a dirty, self-interested and capitalist serving business. It is supposed to serve the interests of the public, but it has never done -- not here, not there, not anywhere on this planet. As always, there are degrees of that. Until now, I have tolerated the blatant contradictions and have always believed that there is a lesser evil. I no longer believe that.

What I am witnessing unfolding worldwide knows no political bounds. It really does not matter if it's red or blue or green or pink and purple. They all propagate the narrative of exclusion of the dangerous "other" (as per vaccination status). When you understand timelines the way I do, you understand that this has already happened, and what is unfolding are simply the details in 'real time'. But the future has already happened (if you are at all curious about how this is possible, check this video out).

This future, that has already happened, is so deeply enraging, infuriating, devastating and utterly hopeless. What we are living through is, as far as I'm concerned, is the end of this iteration of humanity. To cast a ballot, a vote for any of the players I am presented with, and believe it matters feels like shovelling snow when an avalanche is coming. It could make me feel better, should I choose to go that route, when in reality it is totally and utterly fucking pointless.

This time around, casting a vote truly feels like an immense violation to my Soul. The game of politics is so minuscule, so predictable and degrading that I cannot, in good conscience, pretend that there is some measurable difference between any and all of the "democratically elected candidates". Because there isn't.

Every single one of them is perpetuating the same narrative as the others. They all say one thing and implement another. For instance (though there are countless) Trudeau once called the green passports "divisive"; now he is planning to implement them a year from now (yup, all this is a veeeery temporary measure, alright). Biden said he would not mandate masks etc; now, he has. Nothing new in the history of politics: say one thing, do the opposite.

And none of it seems to ever matter. Overall, we have lost faith in these institutions because we are constantly desperate for "change". So we settle for changing faces and colours and moving on, until the next election, frustration continuing to build and intensify. That is what "strategic" voting is-- a thoughtless way of voting out of fear that perpetuates the two party system, till death do us part. Constantly voting as a run away from fear rather than voting for the the world we want to live in...a vote for the party we wish to see represent us internalised as a "wasted vote" because we are too afraid the other party might win. Somehow, we think this is a smart way to vote...

I have decided this is no longer enough. Playing within the small, minuscule, meaningless confines of lesser evil is no longer enough. Because no matter the perceived lesser evil, today, they are all inciting division and violence in ways that feel invasive to my core.

For example, the "leader" of the "free world" is inciting violence that, in my opinion, is much more dangerous than the previous orange "leader". And the thing is, that Biden's speech is not the exception to the rule -- it is the rule. Some iteration of it is happening worldwide, and I believe there will necessarily be consequences.

When we have a supposedly left-leaning prime minister who openly and shamelessly attacks their children as being dangerous to our children... and we let him... I know with every fibre of my being that we have entered a world we can not come back from (unless, of course, the majority would notice and then have the backbone to act ... which, they don't, so I'm certainly not holding my breath).

As it turns out, the collective is so deeply committed to the fear mongering that we are willing to exclude from society whomever the state deems a "dangerous minority". There are no riots from the people who believed (once upon a time) in "my body, my choice". Instead, we have surrendered and traded our rights and those of the future generations for mass compliance. What do you think making our once-private medical status public... for our own good, does? These violations were never meant to be a temporary measure. And we have not seen the end of it yet...

From the beginning, noone cared what the science said. Everyone cared what the people who say they know the science say. And those people are yelling at us every chance they get that their chosen way is the only way forward. Blatantly ignoring science, blatantly ignoring data and cherry-picking, blatantly disregarding and censoring any and all alternative ways of thinking, blatantly ignoring and violating their own laws.

One way, on this highway.

This ship, ladies and gentlemen and everyone in the spectrum, has sailed.

So in my life, for the first time, I truly believe it does not matter one iota if I vote. The train has left the station and I know not the exact destination. What I do know are the uncanny similarities between any previous fascist / communist / totalitarian regime and the one we have entered in now. I mean, some people are sensitive to comparing what is happening now to Nazi Germany or communist Albania and yet to ignore the parallels would be to turn a blind eye because we want to be politically correct (aka polite). For those who are willing to notice the similarities, it is literally written in black and white in Hitler's book or any book written on propaganda.

I have never been known for my politeness. This is something I pride myself in. I am interested in truth. I am interested in what is real. I am interested in authentic connection (or none at all). I am interested in living a meaningful life and creating an environment where people thrive. I am not interested in playing nice. In fact, I believe playing nice is the equivalent of playing pretend. It is perpetuating inauthenticity and it is, however cowardly, taking the side of the oppressor.

For me to vote today would be to say that I have an slither of hope, of trust, of faith in the institutions I am voting for. And in case that isn't clear, I do NOT. Not one party is willing to have a different conversation from the conventional one that has led us into the most divisive world Westerners today have ever personally witnessed.

If I were to vote today, I would want the party of my choice to say, with conviction and backbone:
- The divisive way we are currently choosing to handle this pandemic is wrong.
- The way we are concentrating power to the likes of Facebook and Twitter to censor truth is wrong.
- The way we are silencing people who have a different opinion than the conventional is wrong.
- The way we are breaching constitutional rights is wrong.
- The way we are threatening people with their livelyhood if they don't comply is wrong.
- The way we have ignored / violated the laws and ethics around consent is wrong.
- The way we are creating a two-tier society of deserving and undeserving is wrong.
- Our party is wiling to stand up for rights violations and freedom of choice.
- Our party values choice.
- Our party is willing to stand up for body autonomy.
- Our party is willing to practice patience and assess the data as it comes in rather than rush to mandates that violate.
- Our party is willing to allow the data to speak and scientists to openly and freely debate.
- Our party is willing to prioritise the health and well-being of our citizens, not the economy.
- Our party is willing to immediately put a stop to the green passports because medical choices are a private matter.

These are not the conversations I am hearing any of the so-called leaders talking about. Everyone is operating under the same paradigm, having the same pointless conversations and making the same empty promises. Personally? I am done pretending band-aid solutions to our predicaments are enough; casting a vote for a broken system is not empowering and it is not enough.

The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.

Socrates

Socrates has it right. There is no power in fighting that which does not work; power comes from creating meaningfully.

Socrates died, unwavering, defending what he knew was right. He was murdered by the state because he would ask his students thought provoking, socio-philosophical and political questions. His accusation? Corrupting young minds.

Our society believes itself to have evolved from then; I believe it is quite evident that in fact, the opposite is true, or at the very least, we are kind of exactly the same. Think about how the people "corrupting minds" today are treated? In case you haven't noticed, there has been an intentional effort to "fact check", censor, silence and shame anyone who disagrees with the conventional narrative spewed top-down. In Australia now, and coming soon to a town near you, they are making it illegal to say anything "the committee of they" decide is "anti-vax".

First the censorship then shaming then the power of the law. Is prison next?

Legality (as determined by the state) has never meant morality.

The power of the Leviathan is exponentially multiplying. We have traditionally surrendered aspects of ourselves and we continue to surrender blindly trusting, and barely notice when enough is enough. Such is the nature of group think.

If there is a war, it is not against the virus...

Personally, I am completely uninterested in the political games currently being played. I am no longer desperate to go back to a normal that was never working, anyway. I am no longer interested in the top down narratives that spew mis and dis information for their own benefit. I am no longer interested in participating in the aspects of society that demoralise and dehumanise another. I am no longer interested in pretending what is unfolding in front of me is anything short of an Orwellian tragedy. And it is not here or there, it is literally everywhere. Because we have long been living in globalised world. The rulers of this globe know no borders, and that is becoming blatantly evident.

Every politician, every party, every representative represents the same interests, top-down.

Because of all of this, I refuse to participate in the puny, finite games of politics. Voting is (still) my right, and I choose to exercise it by not playing.

Expansion of consciousness is the infinite game I am interested in.

Instead, I choose to focus on what is meaningful in my life. I focus on expansion of consciousness, creation, joy, kindness. I focus on the scent of the air as the seasons shift... on the colours of the leaves on the massive trees that surround me. I focus on the sounds of my little son waking up from his nap... on loving unconditionally all that IS...on bringing people together to have meaningful conversations that transform lives. I focus on noticing my internal state...on staying true to my Self...on acting from my own internal truth. I focus on expansion of Soul and evolution...I focus on trusting the divine to allow everything to unfold exactly as it should...

I have a son to protect, and as a metaphor, I have a Life to live. I will not be protecting him by bracing against the raging machine. I am focusing entirely on raising him so that he knows to notice the slightest of violations in his body. I am raising him to respect his internal state as the ultimate authority of his truth. I am raising him to never distract himself from the difficult conversations. I am raising him to pay.the-fuck.attention because the world he is growing up in is determined to sever his connection to his essence. If I succeed as a parent, my only goal is to have him intimately know the truth of his experience as it unfolds in each unfolding moment. I desire nothing else for him but a deep, intimate connection to the essence of what he is. To succeed at that, I know I must model that.

Truth is not an absolute. Reality is constructed. To discipher truth from external fiction one must know to trust their own internal cues. That is my mission in life: Live from that space of deep internal knowing. I'll conclude this post with what Louise LeBrun wrote in her brilliant post "This Is Not A Drill":

"What is truth? Perspective from direct experience vs the story of someone else’s experience? If you have no direct experience of x, and are seeking to form a conclusion on x, then you are doing so based on your trust of the story teller. In such moments, the absence of manipulation is highly unlikely.

There is only one path forward: unplug from the megaphone of the collective and take a chance on and a stand for a trust in your own inner truth. Your immune system at multiple levels of thinking can release you from the fear of death by Covid 19; it can free you from the capture of group pressure to comply; and it can lead you to where you need to go."

So with all that in mind:
I encourage you to consider your role in how all of this external reality is unfolding.
I encourage you to notice where you are capitulating so that you may appease authority.
I encourage you to notice where you are lying to yourself so that you fit in with the 'in' group.
I encourage you to notice what is lingering in your body that you are unwilling to pay attention to.
I encourage you to carve your own path.