Not a koan (II)

A number of things arise from yesterday's Not a koan post.

One of them, which deserves more time than I have at the moment and so will have to wait awhile, is the response from Unreal Nature.

Another is to reassure the deluge of people who think my question about presidents suggests that voting is a waste of time. This is emphatically not the case. Though philosophically an anarchosyndicalist, back here in the physical world (as a citizen in a liberal democratic state – "liberal democratic" being a technical political science term and not connected to the US labels "liberal" or "Democrat") I believe that voting is essential. Though I was (as some of those who comment remind me) amused in my teens by the slogan "Don't vote – it only encourages them", I very soon thereafter came to the lifelong decision that not to vote is an abdication of responsibility. I have my doubts about many implementation aspects of most voting systems, not to mention the extravagant expectations placed in their outcomes, but not about the necessity of participation.

Finally: I was impressed by McCain's concession speech. It went beyond the call of convention and duty. I don't need to be on one side or the other to recognise generosity of spirit when I see it. In fact ... although it has not been free of the unattractive smearing and dirt digging which is a characteristic of US campaigns, I have been impressed by the degree to which this was restrained on both sides in this one.