Don't make history, break history.

I don't care how you vote.

I will admit that at one level I do want you to agree with me, to validate my own beliefs, provide me with an opportunity to belong to a group, and, of course, because I sincerely believe my opinion represents the best course of action.

But at a more fundamental level I don't care about that, I care about something else instead.

You have a personal decision to make and the quality of our democracy depends upon the authenticity of your choice. We have heard a lot of talk about the chance to "make history", about the "historic decision" we are making, and appeals to our "shared history" and so on.

But history doesn't happen because of the decisions people make. History is what you get when people don't make decisions. History is what happens when people follow the path of least resistance, go with the flow, and succumb to inauthentic decisions that are not based on genuine assessments of their own circumstances and motivations, but are merely excuses to accept one of a variety of options that have been prepared for them in advance. The orderly progress, the apparent logic, that emerges from this process is the "mask of chaos" and only antidemocratic and exploitative interests ultimately thrive under those conditions.

When you vote, I don't want you to act as a tool, a puppet, a victim of history, the instrument of your antecedents and the slave of your successors.

I want you to act as the unlimited individual.

Be undefined and set free by the opportunity to vote in the anonymous solitude of the polling booth. I don't want you to make history, I want you to break history. I want you to leave the future and the past outside and think about who you are when you vote.

Practically speaking, what does this mean?

When discussing the issues, don't gather in large occasional groups to be spectators at gladiatorial contests between professional politicians.

Gather often in small informal groups whose members change and swap around freely. Don't talk, listen. For every word you say, listen to a hundred others. The strength of your argument relies entirely on how thoroughly you have considered the opposite point of view. Be genuinely open to persuasion.

Go off script. Do not reiterate well rehearsed arguments that everyone has heard before. If you can't think of anything new to say, think about yourself, your own circumstances and those of your friends and family. Think about the contribution you make to improving your own circumstances and the circumstances of others and the common efforts you participate in for the wider benefit. Talk about that. Talk about your hopes and fears. Talk about your talents.

Abhor agreement. If you find yourselves in agreement, stop and try and work out what went wrong. All arguments are inadequate, all evidence incomplete, and agreement can easily arise to fulfil desires for validation and belonging. Don't draw conclusions where these are not possible to justify actions motivated by other considerations. Be honest about your motives with each other and yourselves. If agreement does arise, it must only be because it is strictly unavoidable.  

So when you go into the polling booth and cast your vote, your choice will be an outcome of an honest, thorough and genuine appraisal of the options by yourself. But it will also be an honest, insightful, warts-and-all appraisal of yourself. Whatever your decision, it won't be business as usual.

I don't care how you vote. I care why you vote.

Don't make history, break history.