BARNEY FRANK AND LEARNED HAND ON VOTING.
BARNEY FRANK AND LEARNED HAND ON VOTING. Back over forty years ago, the problem that it is irrational to make the effort to vote was attracting a lot attention, especially among graduate students in government. Learned Hand was quoted often on the meaninglessness of his vote: “My vote is one of the most unimportant acts of my life; if I were to acquaint myself with the matters on which it ought really to depend, if I were to try to get a judgment on which I was willing to risk affairs of even the smallest moment, I should be doing nothing else, and that seems a fatuous conclusion to a fatuous undertaking.” (quote from thinkexist.com) At the time, Barney Frank was a graduate student in government, already known for his wit. His comment on Hand was reported to me several times: “If I were a judge on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, voting would also be one of the most unimportant acts of my life.” Of course, Barney Frank is now a Congressman, and voting in a general election is one of the least important acts in his public life.