Please Vote

Back in the first week of November, I was talking with a friend of mine when she admitted, with the air of revealing to me some exceedingly dark secret, that a friend of hers was choosing not to vote. "He's not voting? Why?!" I asked incredulously. She answered, "He doesn't like politics."

To say I take issue with this concept would be an understatement.

Firstly, people do not seem to comprehend how powerful voting as a concept is. We live in a democracy; each citizen (who is registered to vote) is entitled to get their* voice heard. You have a say in what your country becomes. If you think, "I'm just one vote, one vote won't change anything," realize that if everyone thought that, no one would vote. That line of reasoning is invalid, so go vote. Voting is the strongest way to say you support or oppose something. Your elected representatives, to keep getting reelected, have to heed the people's opinions. And having representation in government is what we are all taught the American Revolution was for. So why would you choose to throw away your voice?

That leads to my second point: voting is your patriotic duty, your civic responsibility. Human beings (for the most part) live in countries with millions of other people instead of living on their own. Why? Because living in an established state provides enormous benefits. A community, something to be a part of, pride, protection. Access to new technology, health care, larger economy, bigger entertainment, wider variety of culture. All the trappings of civilization, society, and for us, all the benefits of America *cue bald eagle noises*. In all seriousness, living within a larger system gives us many advantages. We in turn must contribute, and we do, most obviously in the form of taxes. But it is also our responsibility to participate in what happens in this country, because it is our home, and we are effected by what goes on, whether we see it or not.

And what is strange to me about people who do not vote and these last two points is: are there really people in this country who have absolutely nothing to say about how things are in America? Everyone has opinions! Everyone has things they like and things they dislike! If any readers know someone who doesn't vote - please conduct a little experiment. Ask them if there is a single thing about the state of this country they do not like. And if there is something, tell them they should vote.

Thirdly, I would like to clear the air about "politics." Growing up, I heard what many of you probably also heard: politics is for politicians, politicians are corrupt, politicians don't care about the general population, politics don't affect normal people, etc. This attitude is incredibly dangerous. Yes, politics is mostly a power struggle between some people you will probably never meet who work in a fancy building, but the rhetoric these people spread, the laws they put in place seep into our culture, our everyday life. Some people somewhere decided laws on driving in your state. You (hopefully) abide by them every single day as you drive around. Some officials wrote up food and health regulations, affecting your dinner experience at your favorite restaurant. Laws affecting the work place condition you to think that a certain kind of work environment is to be acceptable, your norm. Legislation affects you every day. Politics affects you every day.

So, please vote.

*I will continue to use the singular "they" pronoun throughout this blog to refer to all individuals.