No vote, No respect…

Time and time I hear it again, especially from my own apathetic generation of twenty-somethings, “I’m not going to vote because I’m not really into politics, blah, blah, blah,” (insert myriad of other lame excuses here). I cannot even begin to explain the anger that this phrase invokes in me…I often have to calmly count to ten, ball my fists at my sides and repeat the mantra, “Don’t snap, don’t snap, don’t snap!”

Why would anyone fortunate enough to have the right to vote actively refuse to do so? Do they not realize the importance of civic duty? Do they not realize what a privilege it is? Are they completely ignorant to the suffering, the hardship and yes, even the murder, that so many have had to endure (and continue to endure) just in order to obtain this civic liberty/ this keystone of democracy?

Quite frankly the excuses make me sick. Perhaps your party of choice may not be a front-runner; perhaps you feel “Why bother? My candidate isn’t going to win anyways.” Imagine if we got rid of this pathetic and lackadaisical attitude, perhaps then we would see a turnaround in this nation’s politics. If voters don’t give a damn, why they hell should our politicians?

Wake up people and exercise your vote! Stop thinking only of yourselves and get informed. And if things don’t go your way and you’re unhappy about the way government X is leading the country, at least you will have “earned” the right to complain.