As we near election day, I find it only fitting for a former political science/journalism major to blog about the election. I am not going to tell you who to vote for, even though my infinite wisdom is correct in these matters. I am not even going to simply tell you to vote. My convictions and desires lie in the not only do you vote, but that you vote educated.
So this voting thing to me seems to be a two-step process. 1. voting 2. being educated
It is beyond me how these two things seem to go hand in hand like school and homework, or Christmas and presents, but yet, so many do one with out the other. So many people blindly walk into the polls and vote for the popular candidate or the one that their parents or friends are voting for. On the same token, so many people educate themselves (or pretend to) but fail to vote.
On voting itself. I know it sounds awful to leave your house, drive to your local voting station, remember to take you drivers license with you (you no longer need your voter's registration card), stand in line, follow prompts on a screen, and hit buttons. Horrible, right? Personally, I'd rather vote than do things like hook up electronics, mow the lawn, clean the house, do laundry, or even cook. So why do we not do it?
I hear the normal excuses that the lines are too long (I voted in 20 minutes. That is shorter than it would take to do any of the before-mentioned tasks), I can't get off work (polls are open at 7am now, and they were open this past weekend), and I have too much to do (again it took me 20 minutes on my way into work). As I write this, I hear on the news that Yellow Cab is even offering free rides to polling locations. To those with these excuses, you are lazy and making excuses. If you are offended by my statement, too bad. I apologize that you are lazy.
Then, being in Texas especially, I have heard the same excuse over the past three presidential election: "I live in Texas, it's going to be (insert Republican name here) anyway." This is the one that makes me crawl out of my skin.Why are you resigning yourself to this? First, if you think you can't change anything because of this thought, you are resigning yourself to never change anything! Second, if you are a Republican and don't vote because you think Republicans are going to win it regardless, you are playing a risky game. It's a slippery slope we can't afford to go down. If more and more people decide not to vote because they think they can't make a difference, no difference will ever be made!
In addition to this, you are saying you don't care about your rights! If you do not exercise your rights, why do we think the government should give them to us? What is the most famous propaganda motto from the American Revolution? "No taxation without representation." Granted this was propaganda, but people fought and died for this. It stirred the hearts of men.
In 1871, African Americans were given the right to vote. They fought Jim Crow laws in the South, fought their ways to the polls while people cursed and spit on them, and worse all to cast their ballot. To be a part of the democratic process. To tell their officials what they thought.
Then in the early 1900s, women stood on their soap boxes in cities across America and marched to city halls all through this country to earn the right to vote. They faced persecution in Seneca Falls as they met to fight for suffrage. How would they feel now that we take this for granted?
With the persecution in places like N. Korea and Zimbabwe, where people would love to be able to cast an honest ballot they know will be counted, how dare we take this for granted?
Yes, the electoral college still elects our president, but if we are not voting, what is going to change this? Regardless if the again this year the popular candidate is not elected, the message is sent to our government.
With this being said, I come to the second part of voting. Being educated. Or should this be the first part of voting? I am tired of people saying they are voting for ______ because they like their policies, but can't name one of the policies. Or they know the policies but not the repercussions of them. Be educated!
Also, the right to vote was given to YOU. It was not given as a second vote for you father, husband, or grandmother. Vote for who you think should win. On that same note, do not just vote against who your parents are voting for. Picking the leader of the free world is not a good form of rebellion. Get something pierced instead.
I also hear a lot of complaining about the electoral college. What I say about this may make you angry, but again I am not apologetic for my views, just as you should not be for yours. As I said earlier, the popular vote sends a message to Washington about what the people want to see. But part of me thinks our founding fathers (and I hate that term) knew what they were thinking when they created this.
In the Federalist Papers, a compilation of letters by John Jay, Alexander Hamilton and James Madison sent to the New York Times trying to get the public to vote to approve the new Constitution, the authors explain their reasoning for the electoral college.
"A small number of persons, elected by their fellow citizens, from the general mass, will be most likely to posses the information and discernment requisite, to so complicated an investigation," Hamilton said of the electoral college.
Throughout the letters the authors do show lack of faith in the common man. I will spare you the paper I wrote on this at Baylor, but I got an A on it if you are doubting me. During my time studying this, I agreed with them on doubting the common man in 1787. Communication was slow as well as literacy and education, all important factors when electing the next Commander in Chief.
Flash forward over two centuries. Is the electoral college outdated? Let me ask another question. Are the American people more educated? Yes, communication is far beyond what Hamilton could have ever imagined, but we are over exposed now. And I would venture to say that no, we as a people, are not more educated. (This is evidenced in the circus of this election.) We listen for the sound bites. We look for the man or woman that is cool and popular. We wear pins that say "The change we need," without knowing what that change is. Or t-shirts that say "the hot candidate," because beauty makes a difference in the face of terrorism. (Disclaimer: as a lover of PR, I applaud their PR people, but I also recognize the foolishness in it.)
So is the electoral college outdated? I think this question is directly related to the education of our country. So, no. I do not think it is outdated. I am not saying we should have some American Bureaucracy, but it serves as a check just as the popular vote serves as a check on them. When, the American people are educated, I will trust them. I fully believe the writers of the Constitution of 1787, could see beyond their years. So this, to me at least, invalidates another reason not to vote as well as gives another reason to vote.
I know I went on my own tangent for a bit, but I hope I came full circle for you. In the end, look up the policies online, wake up 20 minutes earlier, grab some Starbucks, and go vote. What is one hour of your time compared to the effect it can have on the next four years.
In addition to this, you are saying you don't care about your rights! If you do not exercise your rights, why do we think the government should give them to us? What is the most famous propaganda motto from the American Revolution? "No taxation without representation." Granted this was propaganda, but people fought and died for this. It stirred the hearts of men.
In 1871, African Americans were given the right to vote. They fought Jim Crow laws in the South, fought their ways to the polls while people cursed and spit on them, and worse all to cast their ballot. To be a part of the democratic process. To tell their officials what they thought.
Then in the early 1900s, women stood on their soap boxes in cities across America and marched to city halls all through this country to earn the right to vote. They faced persecution in Seneca Falls as they met to fight for suffrage. How would they feel now that we take this for granted?
With the persecution in places like N. Korea and Zimbabwe, where people would love to be able to cast an honest ballot they know will be counted, how dare we take this for granted?
Yes, the electoral college still elects our president, but if we are not voting, what is going to change this? Regardless if the again this year the popular candidate is not elected, the message is sent to our government.
With this being said, I come to the second part of voting. Being educated. Or should this be the first part of voting? I am tired of people saying they are voting for ______ because they like their policies, but can't name one of the policies. Or they know the policies but not the repercussions of them. Be educated!
Also, the right to vote was given to YOU. It was not given as a second vote for you father, husband, or grandmother. Vote for who you think should win. On that same note, do not just vote against who your parents are voting for. Picking the leader of the free world is not a good form of rebellion. Get something pierced instead.
I also hear a lot of complaining about the electoral college. What I say about this may make you angry, but again I am not apologetic for my views, just as you should not be for yours. As I said earlier, the popular vote sends a message to Washington about what the people want to see. But part of me thinks our founding fathers (and I hate that term) knew what they were thinking when they created this.
In the Federalist Papers, a compilation of letters by John Jay, Alexander Hamilton and James Madison sent to the New York Times trying to get the public to vote to approve the new Constitution, the authors explain their reasoning for the electoral college.
"A small number of persons, elected by their fellow citizens, from the general mass, will be most likely to posses the information and discernment requisite, to so complicated an investigation," Hamilton said of the electoral college.
Throughout the letters the authors do show lack of faith in the common man. I will spare you the paper I wrote on this at Baylor, but I got an A on it if you are doubting me. During my time studying this, I agreed with them on doubting the common man in 1787. Communication was slow as well as literacy and education, all important factors when electing the next Commander in Chief.
Flash forward over two centuries. Is the electoral college outdated? Let me ask another question. Are the American people more educated? Yes, communication is far beyond what Hamilton could have ever imagined, but we are over exposed now. And I would venture to say that no, we as a people, are not more educated. (This is evidenced in the circus of this election.) We listen for the sound bites. We look for the man or woman that is cool and popular. We wear pins that say "The change we need," without knowing what that change is. Or t-shirts that say "the hot candidate," because beauty makes a difference in the face of terrorism. (Disclaimer: as a lover of PR, I applaud their PR people, but I also recognize the foolishness in it.)
So is the electoral college outdated? I think this question is directly related to the education of our country. So, no. I do not think it is outdated. I am not saying we should have some American Bureaucracy, but it serves as a check just as the popular vote serves as a check on them. When, the American people are educated, I will trust them. I fully believe the writers of the Constitution of 1787, could see beyond their years. So this, to me at least, invalidates another reason not to vote as well as gives another reason to vote.
I know I went on my own tangent for a bit, but I hope I came full circle for you. In the end, look up the policies online, wake up 20 minutes earlier, grab some Starbucks, and go vote. What is one hour of your time compared to the effect it can have on the next four years.
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