As I may have mentioned before, I haven't voted since 1972 - one time, in the presidential election of that year. It was the first time I was allowed to do so, as I had just turned 18 that year, the legal requirement, and it was the last time I would ever do so. (I also had to register for the military draft that same year.) So why is that the first and last time for my voting? Well, my spiritual journey really goes back even to my earlier childhood, but it was in late high school and my first year at Evergreen State College (1972-73), that I really became serious about it. I was involved in an independent project to study comparative religions, and one of the books I was using for the "Hindu" view was the Bhagavad Gita by Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. This book changed my life as it answered every question I had regarding religion and went into other areas I'd never dreamed of.
For instance, one verse in Bhagavad Gita declares:
"Whatever action is performed by a great man, common men follow in his footsteps. And whatever standards he sets by exemplary acts, all the world pursues." BG 3.21
In other words, we tend to follow those who are influential and famous. We want to be like them and often hang on their every word. And whether that person is good OR bad, we see how they live and act, and we tend to mimic their lifestyles and behavior.
In the commentary to the above verse, Srila Prabhupada points out that "People in general always require a leader who can teach the public by practical behavior... Therefore, a teacher must follow the principles of sastra (scripture) to reach the common man. The teacher cannot manufacture rules against the principles of revealed scriptures...The king or the executive head of a state, the father and the school teacher are all considered to be natural leaders of the innocent people in general. All such natural leaders have a great responsibility to their dependents; therefore they must be conversant with standard books of moral and spiritual codes."
Continuing on these lines, Srila Prabhupada wrote that we should not vote for anyone who is not God conscious. I don't know about you, but I certainly haven't noticed any politicians who appeared particularly conscious of God. If anything, it would appear the opposite. And evidently Srila Prabhupada thinks so to:
"Unfortunately, today's government leaders are generally dishonest and irreligious, and thus all the affairs of the state suffer. In the name of democracy, rogues and thieves fool the innocent populace into electing them to the most important posts in the government. Recently this has been proven in America, and as a result the citizens condemned the President and dragged him down from his post. This is only one case out of many." 1974 - Srila Prabhupāda (Referring to President Nixon)
Srila Prabhupada on numerous occassions even mentioned that many of the world leaders and rulers are, in fact, rakshasas - a Vedic term relating to a kind of demonic being. In a lecture in 1966, he said:
"Raksasa means almost man-eaters. Raksasa are called man-eaters, more than tigers. They, for their self-satisfaction, they can eat...even their own sons. You see? They are called raksasas. No shame. "My sense gratification should be satisfied. Never mind. You go to hell." So this is the age. (Kali Yuga) This is going on. You can know this world is now managed by the raksasas. Raksasa. They don't mind what is happening. They are prepared to sacrifice everything for fulfilling their whimsical nonsense. They are called raksasa."
Of course, Srila Prabhupada wasn't the only speaker with a low opinion of politicians. Mark Twain had numerous more humorous views on it:
"Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of Congress; but I repeat myself."
"Politicians are a lot like diapers. They should be changed frequently, and for the same reasons."
"Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect."
General Douglas MacArthur wrote in 1957:
"Our government has kept us in a perpetual state of fear -- kept us in a continuous stampede of patriotic fervor -- with the cry of grave national emergency... Always there has been some terrible evil to gobble us up if we did not blindly rally behind it by furnishing the exorbitant sums demanded."
Consider the number of times in the last few years when we have been called to fall in line with the Narrative of the Day, largely out of fear, and how within a few years, those absolutely non-negotiable views were found to be false. The speakers of "misinformation, disinformation and malinformation" turned out to be the real truth tellers. Most people don't realize that the term "conspiracy theorist" was actually coined by the CIA, when thousands of citizens weren't buying the Warren Commission's "Lone Gunman" and "magic bullet" report on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy - a viewpoint that almost no one believes anymore.
The point is that being a real truth seeker involves looking at ALL kinds of truth - spiritual AND material. By far, the spiritual truths are far more important, but we still live in the material realm, so don't let yourself just be drawn along with the crowd. For instance, although I haven't voted in such a long time, I ALMOST registered to vote for Donald Trump, as having some attachment for the United States, I didn't want to see it fall into complete degeneracy, as it appears to be doing now. But I didn't really want to follow along with that crowd either. Some may call me apathetic, indifferent or even irresponsible, but in the end, I question just how much influence an individual actually has ont he outcomes of so-called 'democratic' elections. Better perhaps, to study it, understand it a little, and ultimately, just get OUT of it. But whatever works for you! :-D
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