I voted today.

Not in a voting booth, and not with a ballot.

I voted today when I woke up.  My internal alarm clock told me I had to get up early, so at just before 6am, I arose.  I turned on the lamp near my bed, my first vote of the day.

The act of turning on my lamp drew electricity into the bulb.  That increased energy draw was my vote, it informed the electric company that I needed more electricity.  My vote immediately made a difference to hundreds of workers at the electric company who made sure that I received what I voted for: stable and inexpensive electricity.

I voted again when I walked to my kitchen and made a cup of coffee using my Tassimo Single-Serve coffee maker.  Making that cup of coffee was actually a few different votes: I voted to tell the electric company that I needed additional electricity for a few moments.  They answered my vote with what I wanted.  I voted when I told the water company that I wanted cold water out of my tap.  They answered my vote instantly.  Starbucks answered yet another vote when I put a Starbucks Tassimo pod in the coffee maker, allowing me a fresh and tasty cup of coffee for under 60 cents.  I could have voted differently by walking to the nearby coffee shop and placing my vote to purchase a $3 cup of coffee.  In either case, my vote would matter and I’d get exactly what I want.

When I turned on my shower, I voted again: I told the water company that I needed a massive amount of water for 15 minutes.  My water heater drew natural gas at a greater speed than just a few minutes earlier.  That’s another vote, a vote that I could undo just by turning the water control from hot to warm or warm to hot.

I voted when I decided to boot up my netbook and tether it to my T-Mobile Google phone.  T-Mobile provides me with the data connection I need to post this article.  When I voted to connect to the web, thousands of T-Mobile engineers provided me with a consistent, fast and cheap connection.

Sometimes my vote doesn’t work to the best of my desires, so I can change it instantly.  A few years ago I used to vote for AT&T to provide me with the same, but they failed me so I stopped voting for them, instantly.  I used to use filtered bottled water I bought from the store for my coffee, but I decided to just use tap water to save some money.  That was a vote undone, and it signaled to the grocery store that they had one less customer for their bottled filtered water.  That vote made a difference up the chain of water provision: maybe the grocery store had dozens or hundreds of customers tell them they didn’t want bottled filtered water.  The grocery store could buy less, or discount the water they sell in order to attract new customers.

I voted again when I responded to a customer’s email request to hire me for a short term project.  I did that project over a few hours today, making the decision that earning money was more important to me than going to the movies, or taking a nap, or visiting with my family, or having an afternoon lunch.  My vote mattered instantly, and it effected dozens, hundreds of people along the way.  My customer voted to select me out of millions of possible candidates to fulfill the work, and their vote counted.  It also engaged hundreds, thousands of people instantly.  If I fail at the job, he won’t vote for me again.

I didn’t vote today at a ballot box, informing a virtually anonymous politician that I want them to act on my behalf, regardless of what they do.  If I had voted for a politician, I wouldn’t be able to instantly change my vote in the future.  I would be stuck with them, even if they do me harm, especially if they do me harm.  If that politician changes their opinion, I would be stuck.  If they decided to steal money from my neighbors to provide a service that I need more, my vote is what hurt my neighbors.  If they decided to drop bombs on civilians in foreign lands, it is my vote that said it was OK to do it.

Voting isn’t an act of force if you have the ability to undo your vote instantly.  Voting with your dollars, with what actions to make every minute of every day, with how you spend your free time, that’s what counts.  Voting in a voting booth is the opposite: it provides a single politician with a dictate from the voters that it is OK to use force to change people.  My way of voting never uses force, since anyone can decide not to accept my vote, or they can perform to the best of their ability in hopes that I will vote for them again.

Related posts:

1. Why I vote
2. Voting for a Black Man for President
3. No change from doing more of the same
4. Fixing Democracy: Week-long voting timeframe
5. Christians who vote are Christians who support murder, theft and slavery
6. My first anarcho-capitalist vote by J. David Blackstone
7. Letting foreigners donate to campaigns
8. Ron Paul: I endorse him, but I won’t vote for him
9. How can an anti-voting anarcho-capitalist support Ron Paul?
10. Ron Paul and H.R. 2956: Responsible Redeployment from Iraq Act