Many Americans, especially young ones, do not appreciate the privilege of participating in a democracy. People between the ages of 18 and 34 seem to be the ones who do the most complaining about the government, and how the elected officials do not represent their views very well. When we look at the voting habits of this same group of people, we see that only 29% of people 18 – 34 voted in the last presidential election. When I see this figure, I am very disappointed in people my age. What is going to happen when we are the older citizens of our country? Will we take more responsibility then?
The other day I saw a bumper sticker that read: “Dear World, We tried our hardest. –half of America”. At first I was amused at the message, but it did not take long for me to say aloud to myself, “no we didn’t”. The sticker was, of course referring to George W. Bush and at least one of the last two presidential elections. I do believe that at least half the country does not agree with his policies and decisions, and I also believe they felt this way before the election. Where were these people on election day? It is unfortunate that young people and the rest of the left-leaning citizens of our country are lazy. The last time we had a Democratic president, the country saw record voter turnout. What does that tell us?
I, in no way whatsoever, condone the war in Iraq, but one image has stuck with me. After the initial “fall” of Baghdad, the first democratic elections for some time occurred in Iraq. I do not want to make comment on the authenticity of these elections, but at least they had them. People felt like they had some say in their government after years of dictatorship. The photo I remember was of an old woman holding up her index finger to show the blue ink that identified her as someone who has voted. The story next to the photo told of the more than 20 people who were killed because they tried to vote, and that people who had the ink on their fingers were marked for death by several terrorist groups.
Isn’t it sad that people in other places in the world will risk death to participate in an election, and here in the United States, people can’t get off their couches to cast their vote? Nobody is getting shot at in voting lines in the United States. We are relatively safe from someone detonating a bomb at a polling site, yet we stay at home, and the people who know they very well may not make it back home after voting are happy to get out an participate.
Another image that sticks with me is an old black and white film shot in Selma, Alabama in 1965. A civil rights rally was being conducted to raise awareness to encourage the black citizens of Alabama to ignore intimidation from racist and segregationalist groups and register to vote. The march made it only as far as the Edmund Pettis bridge in Selma
where they were met with local sheriff’s deputies who proceeded to beat the marchers with billy clubs and spray them with tear gas. The march ended with people lying bloodied and injured on the side of the road. A few weeks later, Martin Luther King Jr. led another march to the Alabama capitol, and the national attention to this event led to the passing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.Would you take a beating for the right to vote that the United States Constitution gives all adults over the age of eighteen? How about getting attacked by police dogs? Watching people as old as 80 get their heads split with a policeman’s club? These brave people did, but how much does that matter today when so few people go to the polls to do what these people fought so hard for? We do not place our lives in danger when we register or when we vote, but a little more than fifty years ago, people did. Americans should remember the sacrifices people made and the pain they endured just to do what so many people won’t turn off their television, drive across town in their air-conditioned car, or get up a little bit earlier to do.
More Americans voted for their favorite singer on American Idol than those who chose to vote last election day. This shows where many people’s priorities are. Too many of us are more involved in idiotic prime time television than the government of the people, for the people, and by the people. Maybe some feel their votes don’t count. What would these same people say when confronted with the fact that the last two presidential elections were decided by around 1% each? Wow. If 1-2% more of the eligible voters would have participated in one of the greatest privileges our country offers, history could have been changed.
For me it is as simple as this: if you don’t vote, shut up. I hear too many people complaining about George Bush, spouting off statistics about dead soldiers, the deficit, civil rights, and Hurricane Katrina, but where were these people on Election Day? I blame these people more than I blame George Bush and his associates for the way our country has been run for the past seven years. These people share many of my opinions about the administration, but they did absolutely nothing about it. Thanks a lot. At least George W. Bush made some effort to get himself elected.
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