Day 142: Vote

I am not going to tell you who to vote for. I don’t care. I just want everyone to vote. And do your own research.

Every single person in this country is given the right to choose who they want as their leader. That is the privilege of democracy, as it should be throughout the world. Our system of voting and government is one step closer to having the actual citizens of the world be in control of how a country is run. Almost every developed country in the world has some sort of voting. Some are better than others in terms of fairness. Some are more corrupt than others. But allowing citizens to vote is probably the most important thing we have created toward a path to peace in the world.

There is no voting in a fascist state. There is no voting in a dictatorship. There is no voting in communism. Dictators lead until they are dead or selected by other leaders or are conquered by the people or some other type of violent revolution or mutiny. Voting has allowed people to change the people that run their government based on terms. A president doesn’t rule for life and neither do many other elected officials. And even those that seem to stay in elected positions for a long time still have to be voted in every term.

Living in a democracy also gives us the right to not vote. I understand why people would not want to vote. There are a variety of reasons, but a big one is that they don’t want either candidate. I have felt that several times in my voting life. Voting for the “lesser of two evils” or the “lesser of two sucks” is not ideal and it is unfortunate that our national elections almost always come down to only two people. But not voting is like hiding your head in the sand. You can choose to not care or ignore the bigger issues of the world. But someday those issues will be on your doorstep or taken from your paycheck. By not voting, a full reflection of a nation in a candidate is not allowed. A candidate is only chosen by those who choose to vote. Nearly 40% of eligible voters did not vote in 2016. That is a common occurrence.

There are many issues with our voting system, along with several around the world. I believe there are practical solutions to these issues. But change will not happen unless we choose a candidate that wants to change how the government runs and how our taxes are properly distributed so that the money will benefit the people that pay them. Not just the government.

Voting requires that we have enough information to make a logical vote in which we believe will help the nation and help ourselves. That is the whole point. Unfortunately, being informed is difficult because of tv ads, news stations, and skewed articles masking themselves as news but are as legitimate as a quality source as the blog you are reading now. There are many reliable sources of facts and information because they are created and written by people that fact-check and thoroughly vet any secondary source of information. There are websites that can help you find these reliable sources of news. All that is required of you is to search for the information. I will not provide or suggest any sources here because that would skew your starting point. But finding and READING those sources is key to making an informed decision.

I don’t think there are reliable sources of nonbiased news on TV because network television gets its revenue from advertisements. If people are not watching the news then companies will not want to pay to advertise during that time. So, news programs not only report the news, they have to choose which news to report and show. That in-lies the unfortunate downfall of network television and news. They choose stories that they know people will turn up the volume for. Newspapers need to sell, but the cost of creating a newspaper and paying writers is far less than creating a national television syndicate. Newspapers need fewer advertisers and more readers. But they still are one of the best sources of fact-checked information around the world.

Notice how I am not quoting any sources. This blog you are reading is not a reliable source of information. These are things that I think I am informed about and have personally read about. I am only a single writer without any obligation to my viewers. That can also be true of shows on tv, radio, and, especially, on the internet. Companies can brand themselves to appear newsworthy. But people talking based on what they think is not news. People presenting facts backed with evidence is news a quality source of information.

Sorry about the tangent there, but I felt it was necessary to make a secondary point.

Please vote. Whether you agree with me or not, your voice and your opinion are important. Our collective opinion is important because it is what we feel is going to be best for our country and hopefully the world.

---

Author’s Note #1: Odds are, the people that have made it this far intend on voting and people that don’t care have not read past the title.

Author’s Note #2: Facebook, along with other sources of social communication have become sounding boards for our own opinions. We click, we watch, we read what we already believe to reinforce our beliefs. This does not help the growing perceived separation in our country.

Author’s Note #3: I suggest seeking out a website of a candidate you have no intention of voting for and take ten minutes to pretend that you believe in what they are saying.

Author’s Note #4: I also suggest finding someone to have a peaceful conversation with about issues that you don’t believe in. And then spend that conversation convincing yourself that the other person is right. It may surprise you how much putting down the sword and shield will do to your empathy and finding a common ground.