While I vote, even though this has had no control over the direction of The Bahamas, I’ve come to dislike the admonition that if you don’t vote you can’t complain.

My father used to say he had never voted “FOR” anything. In other words, he always voted against something.

Let’s face it Governments are repressive, and politicians generally make us hate each other.

By voting we encourage the winning political party to assume a right to implement any policy they like, particularly those broadly outlined in their platforms. This is obviously not the intention of voters.

In addition, the actual results of public policy, that is supposed to achieve some “good”, more often than not turn out to be harmful.

Also, it is obvious that Bahamians did not vote for the outcomes we’ve been handed.

A Bahamians right to civic engagement – complaining about public policy – is based on one’s citizenship, not whether I vote or not.

You might enjoy the video of the debate, “Should Libertarians Vote?” below: