Don’t be this guy.
Don’t get me wrong, I understand his rage. I know that just about every election is yet another example of the eternal struggle between “Turd Sandwich and Giant Douche“ Here is why it is important to vote anyway.
You do not change the country in 4 years. It took us many years to become the nation we are today, good or bad. There will never be a candidate who can make this country into the perfect place for you to call home. There is no such thing as Utopia. All you can do is pick the one who is closest to the direction you want to go, philosophically speaking. Maybe you want a Socialist Workers Paradise or a fundamentalist Christian theocracy. You’re not going to find a candidate who can take you there in 4 years. Even if he promises everything you ever wanted in a government, there is a difference between striving for something and actually making it happen.
If John McCain wins tomorrow, we will not become “The Holy United States of Jesusland” on January 21st next year. If Barack Obama wins tomorrow, we will not have free health care for all and the rich will not be taxed into the poor house by Valentine’s Day. Governments, especially ours, are not designed to move quickly. That’s a good thing. In a nation where pandering to the mob can get just about anyone elected, it’s good to have some brakes on the machinery of state.
The gentleman in the above video is right, kinda. Your vote will not cause the Earth to tremble, nor will it shake the halls of power and send politicians scurrying about like cockroaches when the kitchen light is turned on. It is a voice. One voice in a chorus of millions. Some of you will vote for third party candidates in order to make a statement. Some of you will vote because you believe strongly in your candidate. Others will vote because they believe strongly against the other candidate. What is important is that your voice is heard. Even if it is drowned out by others. Even if you are a lone voice crying in the wilderness. Your voice will still be part of the bigger chorus.
Refusing to vote because you believe it doesn’t matter or because you believe that “all politicians are crooks”, is the civil equivalent of “taking your ball and going home”. You’re still subject to the same laws as the rest of us. You’re still paying the same taxes. You’re still under the same obligations, but you’ve given up your one privilege. Your petulance is causing you to behave like the spoiled brat at a restaurant who is upset because his favorite meal isn’t on the menu.
Do you realize that making your voice heard, even if it is for some crazy candidate like Cynthia McKinney, might encourage others of a similar stripe to speak up. One day, maybe not in 4 years, maybe not in 20, but someday, a politician will notice that there is a large group of people who aren’t being represented in Washington. They will notice that people like you vote, and that you will vote for a politician who advocates the policies you feel are so important.
Stop thinking in terms of 4 years and take a big picture view. This country didn’t become what it was overnight. It took people with a vision and an idea and the patience to make it happen. Stop whining and start working. One day your “crackpot” ideas might become part of the mainstream.
Look at our recent past. Reaganomics was once dismissed as “Voodoo” by a man who later became Reagan’s Vice President. The notion that a black man might someday be the Democratic nominee for Preisdent was unthinkable 50 years ago. Back then, some members of the Democratic party were even members of the KKK (One of whom, Senator Robert Byrd, still serves in Congress today!). Politicians like Ron Paul or Dennis Kucinich might be seen as “fringe” today, but by voting and keeping their names out there in the public eye, someday they might have a chance to kick in the door for someone else.
That will never happen if the voters who feel most strongly about these issues give up and sulk at home on election day.
The man in this video speaks of “walking away”, of “refusing to play their game”. To him, I would say “Where are you going to move? Is there some country out there that is doing things better than we are? Is there anywhere else in the world where you would even have a chance of making things different?” This is no game, and you can’t quit just because you’re losing. There are millions around the world who would die (and HAVE died) for the opportunity to make their voices heard to those who would govern them. Think very carefully before throwing your voice away.
Vote.
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