I found this post at the blog of the Library of Law and Liberty interesting. Consider this passage:
If asked, most people today would likely equate authority with power. Power is rightly understood as the ability to compel obedience through intimidation and force. But unlike power, authority does not compel through such coercion. Rather, it is self-evident; people submit to authority voluntarily. Authority, properly understood, transcends the back-and-forth of political life. In that way, it resides outside the government.
In America, authority resides in the people and is expressed in the Constitution. In 1796, James Madison acknowledged this relationship between popular authority and the Constitution, arguing that, prior to its ratification, the Constitution “was nothing more than the draught of a plan, nothing but a dead letter until life and validity were breathed into it, by the voice of the people.â€
By virtue of this authority, the Constitution gives the government its power and stipulates both the ways in which that power may be used and the ends to which it may be directed. The Constitution also provides the means by which the people can check the government when it abuses its power.
in the light of this graph:
while appreciating that the number of eligible voters bothering to show up and vote has continued to decrease since 2012.
There’s something else apparent from the graph. What it tells us is that although your propensity to vote probably rises as you get older and see a greater stake in what the government is doing if you are less likely to vote at age 25 than your parents were at age 25 you’re less likely to vote at age 65 than they are.
That suggests that my concerns over the future of the Republic are well-founded. We’re not just seeing a “crisis of authority”. We’re seeing a loss of governmental legitimacy.
Yeah …. but think for a moment. We’re not the world’s most populous nation by a long shot. We’re not the world’s biggest economy. We’re not the most prosperous on a per capita basis, and our rank seems certain to decline as time passes. For most of us, the economy has improved only slowly since the 1970’s and nobody but political windbags thinks this will improve in the next generation. We’re still the world’s leading military power, but our relative strength is declining over time — remember back in the Ford era when the DoD proclaimed a capability of fighting “two and a half wars”? More seriously, how the rest of the world thinks about us as a practical and moral exemplar seems falling as well — we’re losing rather than gain strength as a world power.
Internally, large parts of the nation are shrinking in population and economic strength as jobs are exported and manufacturing subsides in importance. Drug addiction spreads, unemployment deepens, and our ruling class — of both major parties — pays little attention. It’s inescapable that American governments at state and federal levels is not functioning well — in many areas is not functioning at all but simply blathering to cover up its incapacity.
So. Imagine yourself a young person. What do you get when you cast a ballot anymore? Who’s going to make things better? Maybe if you’re black or gay, the Democrats seem preferable but it’s hard to argue that making public restrooms safe for transsexuals is going to do much for the overall economy. Maybe outlawing abortion and expelling Moslems are your preoccupations so Republican’s are the only party to vote for — but you’ve been voting for Republicans and your parents have and your grandparents have for five decades now and nothing ever seems to change. Meanwhile, the governor is closing down a branch of the state university and tuition is going up and the implements factory is laying off and kids you went to high school with can’t even make into the Army anymore …
Why vote?
Why vote? TRUMP! duh.