"The budget should be balanced, the treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance."
-- Cicero, 55 BC
I graduated from college with almost 160 credits. Let me break that down for you, you only technically need 120 credits for most Bachelor degrees and another 30 for most regular Master degrees. That comes to 150 credits. So what if my 160 credits didn’t add up to a Masters Degree, I honestly don’t care, but what it did give me is a sense of being a well educated person with decent analytical thinking skills. And with a degree in Political Science you’d think that I would be chomping at the bit to talk politics with everyone, surprisingly this is not so.
I don’t like to talk politics with people anymore. I see too much judgment occurring when my ideals and voting decisions do not meld with those that are closest to me. I do not think it is cowardly of me to shy away from the inevitable disappointment either. It is just my way of keeping the peace. And it’s not because I don’t have an opinion. Because believe me I HAVE opinions and I feel strongly about issues. I have a degree in political science for crying out loud. I am also very pragmatic about my politics. I would call myself a moderate, but that isn’t necessarily true. I certainly don’t agree 100 % with any party and truth be told I don’t know if I can feel good about voting for either Presidential candidate.
I find that there are so many assumptions being made by the people I know as well. For instance, a lot of people assume that I am ultra right wing because I belong to a conservative religion and live in the reddest state in the union. Others assume that I am liberal because I enjoy artsy film and because I have some very liberal friends. For me, politics is so much more nuanced and complicated than just sticking with strict party lines. You may think you know how I would vote on something like Proposition 8, but I bet you aren’t right. You may also think you know how I feel about any number of issues from the Iraq War, to the Border Fence, to animal rights, to legalizing marijuana – think again. The other day I was wearing my Rock the Vote shirt and someone called out to me by saying “Cool shirt, go Obama”. What? Just because I am wearing a shirt with a slogan popularized by the MTV generation it doesn’t necessarily mean that I am going to vote Democrat for President. And just because I am a woman it doesn’t necessarily mean I am going to vote Republican so that we can have a woman Vice President. Puhhhlllleeeeasssse, give me a little more credit would you.
What I do strongly believe and am willing to vocalize is the importance of voting. Whether you vote McCain, Obama, Nader, or Mickey Mouse just vote. Let your voice be heard. And your voice does count. In the Bush/Gore election the vote came down to the state of Florida and its 25 electoral votes. And within that state it came down to less than 1 % of the vote. People...that is a difference of hundreds of votes, not thousands or tens of thousands...but hundreds. In a country of 300 + million people that is pretty darn spectacular. Maybe your argument is that you live in Utah and the state is going to vote Republican regardless of what you do. Yes, that’s probable. But I believe that on principle you should still vote. Be a part of the process, not just an armchair quarterback. And not only should you vote but you should take the time to educate yourself on the issues. It is a sad statement on society that more people voted for American Idol than the last presidential election. That is just embarrassing. (And yes I voted for American Idol, but I also have not missed one election since I have been old enough to vote either.) No wonder we are a joke to the rest of the world. Geez, it just annoys me that we cannot make an effort to actually exercise a right that many people in the world don’t have. In California, they have drive through voting in some counties. Drive through voting! It is flabbergasting. Have we become like those people in Wall-E, too self absorbed and lazy to hoist ourselves out of our cars to walk into a polling location? But even drive through voting is better than not voting at all.
I haven’t decided if I am voting Blue or Red this year, what I’d really like to do is vote purple. But either way, I do intend to Rock the Vote! And I hope you do too.
* And if you need even more incentive, Ben and Jerry’s locations are offering a free scoop of ice cream to anyone who comes in on November 4th from 5-8 P.M.
-- Cicero, 55 BC
I graduated from college with almost 160 credits. Let me break that down for you, you only technically need 120 credits for most Bachelor degrees and another 30 for most regular Master degrees. That comes to 150 credits. So what if my 160 credits didn’t add up to a Masters Degree, I honestly don’t care, but what it did give me is a sense of being a well educated person with decent analytical thinking skills. And with a degree in Political Science you’d think that I would be chomping at the bit to talk politics with everyone, surprisingly this is not so.
I don’t like to talk politics with people anymore. I see too much judgment occurring when my ideals and voting decisions do not meld with those that are closest to me. I do not think it is cowardly of me to shy away from the inevitable disappointment either. It is just my way of keeping the peace. And it’s not because I don’t have an opinion. Because believe me I HAVE opinions and I feel strongly about issues. I have a degree in political science for crying out loud. I am also very pragmatic about my politics. I would call myself a moderate, but that isn’t necessarily true. I certainly don’t agree 100 % with any party and truth be told I don’t know if I can feel good about voting for either Presidential candidate.
I find that there are so many assumptions being made by the people I know as well. For instance, a lot of people assume that I am ultra right wing because I belong to a conservative religion and live in the reddest state in the union. Others assume that I am liberal because I enjoy artsy film and because I have some very liberal friends. For me, politics is so much more nuanced and complicated than just sticking with strict party lines. You may think you know how I would vote on something like Proposition 8, but I bet you aren’t right. You may also think you know how I feel about any number of issues from the Iraq War, to the Border Fence, to animal rights, to legalizing marijuana – think again. The other day I was wearing my Rock the Vote shirt and someone called out to me by saying “Cool shirt, go Obama”. What? Just because I am wearing a shirt with a slogan popularized by the MTV generation it doesn’t necessarily mean that I am going to vote Democrat for President. And just because I am a woman it doesn’t necessarily mean I am going to vote Republican so that we can have a woman Vice President. Puhhhlllleeeeasssse, give me a little more credit would you.
What I do strongly believe and am willing to vocalize is the importance of voting. Whether you vote McCain, Obama, Nader, or Mickey Mouse just vote. Let your voice be heard. And your voice does count. In the Bush/Gore election the vote came down to the state of Florida and its 25 electoral votes. And within that state it came down to less than 1 % of the vote. People...that is a difference of hundreds of votes, not thousands or tens of thousands...but hundreds. In a country of 300 + million people that is pretty darn spectacular. Maybe your argument is that you live in Utah and the state is going to vote Republican regardless of what you do. Yes, that’s probable. But I believe that on principle you should still vote. Be a part of the process, not just an armchair quarterback. And not only should you vote but you should take the time to educate yourself on the issues. It is a sad statement on society that more people voted for American Idol than the last presidential election. That is just embarrassing. (And yes I voted for American Idol, but I also have not missed one election since I have been old enough to vote either.) No wonder we are a joke to the rest of the world. Geez, it just annoys me that we cannot make an effort to actually exercise a right that many people in the world don’t have. In California, they have drive through voting in some counties. Drive through voting! It is flabbergasting. Have we become like those people in Wall-E, too self absorbed and lazy to hoist ourselves out of our cars to walk into a polling location? But even drive through voting is better than not voting at all.
I haven’t decided if I am voting Blue or Red this year, what I’d really like to do is vote purple. But either way, I do intend to Rock the Vote! And I hope you do too.
* And if you need even more incentive, Ben and Jerry’s locations are offering a free scoop of ice cream to anyone who comes in on November 4th from 5-8 P.M.
2 comments:
Amen!!!
You do more than rock the vote. You rock my world! Politics are so complicated and sometimes I want nothing to do with them, but that is what makes America so great.
I was listening to NPR this week and they were dicussing why people would not be voting. Many said that their vote would not count. Like you said that is just not so. Besides when we vote we also vote for many local issues with which we CAN make an impact. I thought the ammendments for the Utah consitition were interesting. I did not think that some of the issues were important enough that the public would need to vote on them, but there they were and it was nice to be aware of the goings on. (How was that for a run on sentece?)
Good luck making your decision. I also wish that we could have voted purple in this election. :)
It is ok to vote for a party you think will be the losing party. Cast your vote! (not directed to you Heather, put a plug to add to yours)
We live in a country where we CAN make a difference. If a person chooses to not vote they have no right to voice an opinion. Voting is not a God given right; it is a priviledge. Heather you're the man! I totally agree we need to Rock the Vote. Every one in my office has already voted. Wahoo
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