You are Making a Mistake

WARNING: This blog post contains political content and if you are easily offended, then you should stop reading. Additional note, this blog post DOES NOT contain partial favoritism or try to convince the reader to vote for a specific party, candidate, or rights.

I have always been fascinated by the concept of time. So much so that I actually wrote a final composition piece in high school on the topic. Time is a strange concept. It is one that we invented: we placed seconds to minutes, minutes to hours, hours to days, days to months, months to years, and years to the span of our lifetimes. We conceived countless concepts regarding daylight savings times, time zones, and times at which specific events occur. We placed the importance on time. But the fact of the matter is that time is an inevitable part of our lives. And time seems to proceed at an accelerated rate.

Today is already November 3, 2016. The year is almost over. Valentines Day, St. Patricks Day, Independence Day, and Halloween have passed. Before we know it, the major religious holidays will come and go and we will be ringing in the New Year of 2017. This also means that another important date is quickly approaching: Election Day, which is November 8th for the record...

Unfortunately, this election year has been one of turmoil, angst, argument, disappointment, conflict, and general uneasiness. It has been said that this year is one of the most important election years to date. While I partly agree with this statement because I think we have the potential to witness history (no matter what way the electoral college and popular vote indicate), I also think that every single presidential election is incredibly important.

Let's refer to the concept of time once again.

In the early years of our country, only white people were allowed to vote. Correction, only white males were allowed to vote (especially those who were wealthy land owners). Time progressed, the Civil War was won, and then came a period of great segregation. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, along with countless other thankless and equally important members of the African American community, came together to fight against racism and pass the 25th Amendment which banned all forms of the poll tax, thus paving the way for African Americans to vote. Historical figures such as Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Lucy Stone advocated for women and faced countless critics and other obstacles to ensure that women had the right to vote.

An innumerable amount of people were beaten, faced harsh critics, and spent their entire lives dedicated to ensuring that ALL American citizens would be able to vote in all future elections. Minutes, hours, days, months, years, decades were spent tirelessly by hundreds of people to ensure that American citizens would be able to vote without facing segregation, injustice, punishment, and criticism.

Yet, so many Americans are actively choosing and discussing the fact that they will not vote due to the candidates on the ballot this year. How incredibly sad.

If time has taught us one thing it should be that we shouldn't take anything for granted. Our right to vote is something that we should not take for granted because if you exercised that vote, perhaps we wouldn't have these two major party candidates.

Make a stand. Start voting in EVERY SINGLE ELECTION! Declare yourself apart of a party...any party. It doesn't have to be Republican or Democrat. It could be the Green Party, an Independent, or one of the other parties that are now being recognized and advocated for. While you won't be able to vote in primary elections (which is truthfully upsetting), at least you are exercising your right to vote. You are declaring that you recognize the time spent and the fights lost and won to earn your right to vote. You are making a stand against future candidates and you are advocating for the best candidate that will represent how you feel and what direction you believe this country should be heading towards.

But, mostly importantly, RESEARCH! Understand that you are not obligated to vote for Hillary Clinton and the Democratic party or Donald Trump and the Republican party. There are so many other candidates; Jill Stein for the Green Party and Gary Johnson for the Libertarian party. Maybe one of those candidates has a different view for our country and they are the one who will advocate for your personal beliefs and will lead this country in a different direction. Or think about who is running for U.S. Senate or other local political positions. These MATTER TOO! They help decide who will advocate for your city, town, and state on a local and national level. That vote is just as important.

Include in this research the fact that major media stations and social media sites are not places to find factual information. ALL media stations are biased; they cover one candidate more than the other, they pick and select information to show, and they run ads for specific political parties. Social media sites create videos that are pieced together to show a candidate in a certain light or that misconstrue a candidates words or intentions. All of these places influence our thoughts and help us lean towards a specific candidate. Even our close family and friends influence our votes. We hear a piece of news from them that they heard from someone else or the media and suddenly we think, "That makes sense," or "Wow. I never knew that candidate was so spiteful or stood for that specific issue". I'm not saying to ignore your family and friends or that they are intentionally lying to you. What I am saying is that your vote should be PERSONAL.

Your vote should be grounded in your personal beliefs. Not only what you think about the "hot topics" (Gun control, Roe v. Wade, Immigration), but also what you think should happen with state and government funding. What you think should happen in the education system, health care, community programs, and advocacy groups. There are so many MORE TOPICS than the ones that candidates like to focus on. We all have opinions about these topics and we need to be vigilant about what we want for ourselves, our families, our friends, and our communities. Think about what direction you think this country should head towards and find the candidate that best fits that concept. Don't become a sheep and vote with the majority (although I think that's exactly what's going to happen with this election); think for yourself. Advocate for the candidate that fits your needs, beliefs, and community. THINK, RESEARCH, REACT.

Also, don't become one of THOSE people who think that the "popular vote" does not count. YOU ARE MAKING A MISTAKE! True, the popular vote does not mean that that person is getting into office. Reference: George Bush in 2000 who lost the popular vote to Al Gore, but won the electoral college and became our president. The electoral college is the body of individuals who are responsible for voting for the president of the United States every four years. But, that body of individuals consist of the members of Congress (those in the House of Representatives and two each for the number of Senators for each state). Those members get to where they are by popular votes...BY OUR VOTES! In fact, we are voting for U.S. Senators this year! Which means that your vote DOES COUNT! If you don't vote in this election, then you are directly influencing the presidential outcome for this year and the next presidential electoral year as well. YOUR VOTE DOES COUNT.

If it didn't count, then why would countless individuals fight, die, and tire themselves out advocating for your right to vote?!

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE vote during this election. And EVERY SINGLE ELECTION AFTER! Local and national elections!

If you don't vote, then YOU ARE MAKING A MISTAKE!