[EM] Buying Votes

[Fred Gohlke]

Good Morning, Greg

There were several points in your message that caught my attention but, 
to avoid opening too many topics, I will only address one:

re: "This all comes down to the very nature of voting and
      democracy.

      As I have attempted to explain, voting is the exact opposite
      of individual rights ..."

I have not seen that sentiment expressed before.  It is worthy of 
further comment:

The reason voting is the opposite of individual rights is that our 
ability to participate in the political process is limited to approving 
or disapproving choices made by others.  Nothing in our present practice 
allows us to influence the selection of the people or issues for which 
we vote.  That right is reserved to subsets of our society and denied to 
the rest of us.  Thus, our political system is oligarchical, rather than 
democratic, in nature.

Voting under such circumstances violates our natural right to govern 
ourselves.

Fred