Drum roll, please...
"Everyone should vote."
No, really, they shouldn't.
The fallacy of this statement couldn't have been more clear than observing the elections of 2008. During that election cycle, I had many conversations with people who planned to vote for our current president. When I inquired further as to why, this is how the conversation often went:
Me: "Why are you voting for Obama?"
Voter: "Change."
Me: "Change of what?"
Voter: "I don't know. Just change."
Me: "Do you know anything about Barack Obama?"
Voter: "No."
Me: "Nothing other than that he wants to change things?"
Voter: "Yes."
Me: "But you have no idea what kind of change he wants?"
Voter: "No, not really. I just think change is good."
Me: "So you've never read anything he's written, dug further into his political philosophy, investigated the people he claims are mentors or friends, researched who his favorite political philosophers are, or developed or formulated an opinion on any of the policies he espouses?"
Voter: "No."
Me: (proceeds to bang head against wall)
I wish it were not true, but I think that this is how a good portion of the American electorate functions at election time. We hear buzzwords spewed by candidates, we swallow what we hear our peers saying, we allow ourselves to be impressed with what celebrities say about candidates. And it shouldn't be.
What has happened to that independent American spirit? What has happened to being able to discern public policy and its effects on society? Why won't we invest the time necessary to know more about the people who are representing us and what kind of job they are going to do? These elections are like a job interview for a $174,000 per year job (what the average congressman makes.) Why do we act like it's for a minimum wage job that has no bearing on our everyday lives? These people we are electing are our employees. We need to treat them judiciously and with the utmost scrutiny when hiring them to do such critical and important jobs.
So how can we know if we're prepared to vote? If we've done our due diligience? If we should disqualify ourselves from this greatest of American privileges? At the risk of sounding elitist, here's a simple list to help you decide whether you should vote on Tuesday.
Please don't vote if any of the following apply to you:
1) You get all of your political news from Comedy Central, MTV, Stephen Colbert, or Jon Stewart. This alone pretty much just knocks you out of the running for voting. No other requirements need to be met.
2) You have no idea if you are a conservative, liberal, or libertarian and WHY. (Notice I didn't say a Democrat or Republican or Tea Partier.) Determining this may require some further reading on your part, however. Here's a reading list from my former employer that might get you started (and, admittedly, my own reading list just got much longer.) If you're not willing to invest some time into determining your own political philosophy and delving into the same of the candidates you support, it's probably best to stay out of the game for now.
3) You have ever asked or even wondered of a candidate, "Boxers or briefs?"
4) You walk into a voting booth and just pull the "R" or "D" lever without any forethought.
5) You typically make voting decisions according to how your profession, race, union, church, or family thinks you should. It amazes me how many people choose a candidate or party affiliation based on what their family has always done, how their union tells them to vote, what their professors tell them to believe, or what they think the rest of their peer group is doing. Think for yourselves, people. I believe in you.
6) And if these reasons aren't enough, here's a little video illustration for you of who should not vote.
Please, America, take time to be informed. The blood that has been shed, the risks that have been taken, the courage that has been displayed over the last 234 years so that we could have this privilege demands at least that. Please vote. Or maybe not.
