Full or partial entries of my blogs may be found at LatviansOnline http://latviansonline.com/forum/  + Forum Home + Open Forum – The-Not-Voter. If you copy this blog for your files, or copy to forward, or otherwise mention its content, please credit the author http://esoschronicles.blogspot.com/, http://melnaysjanis.blogspot.com/, or http://the-not-voter.blogspot.com/  


I suggest you look at the links imbedded in these blogs or at the end of the blog as an integral part of my argument.
THE-NOT-VOTER
26 Latvia’s Leaders As Geopolitical Dunces

In my previous blog (25), I pointed out the gutlessness of the Latvian political leadership. Anyone who votes for any of the would be leaders in the upcoming elections is not only acting on the irrational hope that somehow matters will improve (re: hope dies last), but that irrationality is in and of itself what hope is about. The disgusting circus in the air to a dumbed down crowd gathered on the shores of Daugava in Riga just about sums up the level of maturity of both organizers and the entertained.

While the right wing coalition of the former Prime Minister Shkehle and hyperventilating vice major of Riga Shlesers are waging an election campaign that has turned economics into a form of the mindless, “Vienotība” (Unity), another coalition of right wing political parties, has turned the fear of Soviet invasion in 1944 [“The Swedes are coming (to save us)”] into a hysterical fear of Russia in 2010. The allegedly non-Latvian “Russian” leadership (concentrated about Riga) offers—as its contribution to the pre-election babble--deathlessness to destitute pensioners by promising no further cuts in pensioners pensions and further daredevil air shows above Daugava. Not ot to be outdone, the leadership of Catholic, Lutheran, and Russian Orthodox has reached such ecumenical highs that Tony Blair, the former British PM, could well become the next Pope.

Meanwhile, the geopolitical unification of East and West, that is to say, Europe-West (the EU) and Europe-East (Russia) proceeds apace. Of course, the economic links precede political links and may take a hundred years to reach completion. Nevertheless, as the project Nord Stream  proves, the linking is taking place. Oh, yes, Latvia is not having any of it. Thus, not only did modern technology pass Latvian by using an underwater pipeline, but Lithuania, Poland, and others are denying Latvian agricultural products export to Russia by taking the paranoia of Russia for the psychological disorder that it in fact is.

The Latvian paranoia of all things Russian has created a “death spiral” not only in its economy (a Bloomberg reporter on a trip to Riga interviews a Swedish economist on Latvia’s economy), but in demographic and geopolitical status. The geopolitical nihilism can be grasped by anyone who wishes to look at the map and notice that Latvia is located just about in the middle between Western and Eastern Europe. In short, Latvia’s much talked about geopolitical advantage is being denied in the name of a democracy that has become a synonym for irresponsible politicians and politics.

The mushy thinking among Latvia’s political elite is one of the reasons why I have been suggesting that the only vote in the upcoming elections is to NOT-VOTE. Among the earliest NOT-VOTER supporters is Thomas Jefferson, who argued for nullification, i.e., the right of the citizenry to nullify everything from laws to governments. The basis for Jefferson’s argument is that it is the people who are the sovereign, with government acting on their behalf only as long as the people not NOT-VOTE and de-authorize it.

Incidentally, were the Latvian “Russians” to win the elections (not without Latvian support, of course), the result can in no way be worse than the political chaos that prevails at present. In fact, next to a successful NOT-VOTE, which leads to a revamping of a dysfunctional Constitution, a Latvian-"Russian" political coalition is the next logical step if the people of Latvia wish for themselves more than become a near-nameless domain for bureaucrats.

Asterisks & Links of Interest
Compulsory voting in the EU Parliamentary elections
http://www.ceps.eu/files/book/1886.pdf
The abstentionist elephant
http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php/site/article/8783/
Electronic polls
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/10102126.stm
On the Meaning of Voting
http://www.strike-the-root.com/92/bylund/bylund1.html
British Government Attempts to Bracket the Constitution
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/election_2010/8681624.stml
Ground Zero for Thought
http://www.alternet.org/module/printversion/146989
Why Forced Positive Thinking Is A Lot Of Crock?
http://www.alternet.org/story/146940/barbara_ehrenreich%3A_why_forced_positive_thinking_is_a_total_crock?page=2
The Trap
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAluyt5_kic