Johnny Cash: the liberal who never voted
Johnny Cash seemed to be at the forefront of many pillars of history. Being the first US citizen to find out Joseph Stalin was dead, campaigning for prison reform, fighting for Native American rights – he did it all. But would you catch him at a polling booth? No chance.
Indeed, outside the immediate parameters of his music, the one thing Cash was also known for throughout his life was a blazing spirit that consistently fought for the underdogs and those less fortunate than himself. Whether that was sticking up for prison inmates when everyone else in society had turned their backs or highlighting the Native American cause, you could assume that his politics were pretty clear.
It seems odd, in this respect, that he would subsequently never want to rubber-stamp this mantra into actual policy. Yes, the ‘Man in Black’ may have been one of America’s most pioneering liberals on the face of it, but the reality was that never, not once in his life, did he ever decide to vote.
Whether it could be seen as apoliticism or a flagrant disregard for constitutional duty, it was a fact that truly was the antithesis of everything he ever seemingly stood for. Why would you spend so much time campaigning on behalf of others, only to never actually back them when it came to representing their plights at the polls?
But in Cash’s view, everything he ever did stood on a point of principle, not politics. It was for this reason that he said in 1976: “I don’t think it would be fair for me to campaign for a presidential candidate and try to influence people that way. That’s important stuff and big stuff, and I don’t think I’ve got a right to exercise any such control over the people.”
To some, this offering may have been the mark of a cop-out, but it was nevertheless clear that Cash’s stance of helping people and standing up for those who couldn’t do it themselves was not reliant on any form of agenda or background. He did it because he felt it was the right thing to do, not because it was furthering any kind of other ulterior motive.
Of course, no one is saying that society should just abandon their rights and never head to the voting booth again, as that would spell its own horror of troubles, but you could see that the ‘Man in Black’ had some element of a point. At the end of the day, it’s people, not politicians, who really hold the answers, and he was just proving an early manifestation of that.
You could say that we should all learn to take a leaf out of Cash’s book – but then again, the legions of heroes who laid down their lives for the right to vote would naturally be rolling in their graves at the prospect. In this sense, let’s call it even by saying we’ll take half a leaf, or even a sliver of one. The intention was there, after all.
Cash’s visions may never have been skewed by politics or any particular agenda, but in doing so, this laid bare the unshakable principles of a man who could never be swayed to take the easier or quieter path. Especially in today’s terms, that really is something to commend. Still keep heading to the voting booth – but the next time you do so, take a little piece of the ‘Man in Black’ with you.
