Camus was a rebel who advocated the rebellion against social constructs and institutions. Politics, government, especially that of the United States, a system in which real values are veiled in party delineations, are the biggest social construct of our time. Camus wouldn't vote. If he voted it would be for someone who would truly advocate a minimalist government, so in that respect he would vote Republican, but his likelihood to take place in this institution of politics would be small.
Voltaire, in Candide, criticized aristocracy. I doubt he would want to elect anyone with the amount of power that the president has. He would probably favor minimal government interference, which would again lean towards the republican view. But he would also advocate the protection of personal liberties, which could lead to a want to vote for government programs and spending to protect those, or at least try to. This would be more of a Democrat view. But he wouldn't vote. Power can corrupt all and will corrupt all systems. Voltaire and Camus would see this and try to get people to not vote and instead change the system so that the power stayed truly with the people. Or maybe they'd be Republicans. If they were alive I'd wonder.
I agree that Voltaire would likely keep out of the election. I think it would be because he would be contrarian and like you said, oppose the amount of power the president has.
ReplyDeleteVoltaire not voting would be the most likely outcome, if anything simply for his belief that absolute power corrupts absolutely. I think if he were forced to vote, however, he would pick Obama. Not because his policies are better -I think Voltaire would find things like that to be rather arbitrary- but because he's the most honest candidate. He's the candidate who has best stuck to his own personal values through this whole ordeal. That's what Voltaire tried to show with Candide. The fact that sticking with one's morales will lead he or she down the right path.
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