In general I’m hard pressed to remember an election which is being anticipated with such and air of apathy and resignation by many I talk to.
It’s not so much the thought that their votes will make little difference in the outcome, but that the prospect of either outcome means so little to them. People are not articulating the usual dislike for one and preference for the other. They genuinely feel little attraction to either of the major party leaders, and moderate dislike for both.
Such thoughts could lead to cynicism about the democratic process. I think that if voting was optional in Australia our participation rate would mark something of a historic low.
These words from C.S. Lewis advocate democracy, not because of a falsely optimistic view of the capacity of every human being, but because of a soundly biblical view of human nature:
I am a democrat [proponent of democracy] because I believe in the Fall of Man.
I think most people are democrats for the opposite reason. A great deal of democratic enthusiasm descends from the ideas of people like Rousseau, who believed in democracy because they thought mankind so wise and good that every one deserved a share in the government.
The danger of defending democracy on those grounds is that they’re not true. . . . I find that they’re not true without looking further than myself. I don’t deserve a share in governing a hen-roost. Much less a nation. . . .
The real reason for democracy is just the reverse. Mankind is so fallen that no man can be trusted with unchecked power over his fellows. Aristotle said that some people were only fit to be slaves. I do not contradict him. But I reject slavery because I see no men fit to be masters.— C.S. Lewis, “Equality,” in Present Concerns (reprint: Mariner Books, 2002), p. 17.
HT: Justin Taylor.
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