Maintaining Freedom and Liberty like Diogenes " ...in the furtherance of my own evolution, I can only say “NO” to ALL the candidates. So you see, in a sense I am casting a “NO” vote against all of them. My choice is simply “None of the Above!” One candidate may steal from me more or less than the other, but that’s not the point. The basic premise, for honest conscious minds, is that stealing cannot be legitimized. Your integrity should never allow you to cast a vote. Do not sanction your own enslavement. Grant no man the authority to make you his slave. Grant no man the power to enslave your neighbor, grant no man the sanction to steal or murder in your name, lest you cause yourself irreparable moral damage. When asked how one could be a free man and yet a slave, the ancient Athenian sage, Diogenes, answered, “Simply, by the number of times you say master.” Diogenes, who recognized no master, always embraced a NO vote. He argued that Athenians, who voted by casting various-colored beans into a receptacle, should “Abstain from beans.” Once, while sunbathing by the river, Diogenes was approached by Alexander the Great. Alexander’s shadow loomed over the reclining, naked Diogenes. “Do you know who I am?” asked Alexander. “That’s not the question you should be asking,” retorted Diogenes. “You should be asking if you know who you are.” Alexander, like all avaricious, unctuous politicians, was asking the same banal and prosaic question, namely: Do you recognize my authority to control you? Do you acknowledge my power over you? Diogenes’ refusal to kowtow to Alexander simply meant Diogenes recognized no authority except “the primacy of his own right judgment.” Freedom, in Diogenes’ view, was the “absolute dominion over his own will. This was the inner realm over which no outside force, not even an Alexander and all his soldiers, had any power, whatsoever.” Regaining his composure, Alexander boasted, “I’m Alexander the Great!” Unimpressed, Diogenes, in a dismissive tone replied, “So, be Alexander the Great!” No one had ever spoken to Alexander with such self-assured authority before. In fact, no one could, except the individual who knows that no person can truly control another. Now feeling more like the average solicitous bureaucrat, Alexander adopted a more servile attitude, offering, “Is there anything I can do for you?” Casually waving his hand, Diogenes replied, “Move over. You’re blocking my sunlight.” So what are you waiting for? You should dismiss these pompous pinheads with a wave of your hands, instead of using them to pull the lever in the voting booth. You were born free and you should remain free. You need no one to speak for you. You require no guardians. You have no need for an elder brother watching over your shoulder. You will learn from your own mistakes and grow strong by them. You require no handouts. For it is only by your own hand, and by voluntarily trading with others, that you can honestly obtain all the fruitage for the greater life. You may fail or you may succeed, but only so long as you grant no man the authority to make you his slave may you pursue your quest for a more bountiful life."