All voting is a sort of gaming, like checkers or backgammon, with a slight moral tinge to it, a playing with right and wrong, with moral questions; and betting naturally accompanies it. The character of the voters is not staked. I cast my vote, perchance, as I think right; but I am not vitally concerned that that right should prevail. I am willing to leave it to the majority. Its obligation, therefore, never exceeds that of expediency. Even voting for the right is doing nothing for it. It is only expressing to men feebly your desire that it should prevail. A wise man will not leave the right to the mercy of chance, nor wish it to prevail through the power of the majority.

 

I chose this passage because it seems apparent to me, especially in light of the soon upcoming elections that of the percentage of Americans who do exercise the civil obligation to vote, many if not all of those feel, with a great deal of certainty that here is where their political and moral obligation as a citizen both begins and ends. I think that to a great extent the average American who does votes does so for the candidate who is most closely in line with his or her own person and moral beliefs in what is best for the economy first and society second. I would dare say that few would vote against their own pocketbook for the greater good although I also realize that I may be allowing my own cynicism to come a little close to the surface in saying this.  Be that as it may I have a great deal of confidence in saying that Americans believe that their obligation as a moral component of society, consists of conducting themselves within the bounds of both the laws of the land as well as those of their particular faith so long as neither requires too much of a proactive approach. People are willing to obey the law and follow the tenants of their faith when they are in agreement with it and believe that it is for the greater good but very few will ever come to challenge it when they feel it is discriminatory against a particular faction of society and out of those few who are willing to speak out, speaking out is about as far as they are willing to go. Taking action is something that is always left for someone else to do or it is assumed that things will work themselves out, that the politicians or religious leaders will eventually get it sorted out and that the chips will fall where they should and not just where they may. How lucky we are that great men like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. didn’t think this way.  As Americans looking at the many challenges that we currently face as a society we need more men like Dr. King to step up and lead and more citizens to have guts enough to stand behind them and back them in their efforts to change things from how they are to how they ought to be. Sometimes the majority is not the majority, just the people that make the most noise while the true majority sit back and wish things would change.