Exaggerated and made up example of what I’m curious about:
My country has legitimate elections. When my government wrongly convicts someone I feel as if I have personally wronged that person by voting for the person who appointed the judge. God will judge both me and the judge for it.
Somewhat but keep in mind that most countries that allow voting are not completely democratic. The actions of the government only consider the will of the people—they are not typically controlled by the people directly, though some are closer than others to this ideal.
For me personally it’s more about what actions can I take to influence the outcome? If it’s an important issue, am I doing all I can to exercise my voice? For the important issues this can go beyond voting. But if the government does something I don’t support and had no ability to prevent, no I don’t necessarily feel guilty about that.
we get a handful of votes. they get to make thousands of decisions. theres no way i can just assume all those decisions represent me, and so i dont.
Do I feel responsible for the selfish, harmful and bigoted choices made by a government I did my best to keep out of power? No, I don’t feel responsible, I feel angry
I wouldn’t know, my preferred parties never end up represented very much. They mostly seem to pull things in an OK direction…
Never confuse people for their governments. You get to vote for the options on the ballot paper. You don’t get to choose who is on it and nor do you have to pretend that the least worst option is actually good.
Feeling morally responsible for the actions of an entire nation sounds like a great way to give yourself ulcers.
But seriously, even in a “democracy”, there is too much shady shit going on behind the curtain to really hold the general public accountable for all of it.
