Shannon's Travel Blog

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

In case you didn't already have a reason to vote, take some of mine...

A lot of people have been telling us to vote this year: celebrities, candidates, teachers, friends, strangers. But I still find many people that tell me they probably won't vote this election. A lot of people cite the fact that they don't really like any of the candidates and that they are sick of choosing the lesser of two evils. They say that one vote doesn't really count, and that they aren't really educated on the issues.

While I wish the above wasn't true, I have to concede that those are all valid reasons for not voting. One vote really doesn't count. It doesn't. Not in an national election anyway. Even in Florida, where it was so close, that was still 587 votes, not one. But I suppose that it could count in a city council election, or maybe in a state race. And after all, isn't that why we vote? I mean how much power does the president have over your daily life? Does he decide how much your speeding ticket is gonna cost you? Or where you can park your car? Does he decide how your school is going to be run, or how clean your city park is going to be, or how good public transportation is, or when hunting season ends? Probably not. But your local leaders do, and in those races, I'd like to venture that your vote really does count. So that's one reason...

Here's another: Voting is a fundamental part of this country's founding and identity. You honestly can't call yourself American if you don't vote because voting and having a voice was what it was all about back in 1776. The colonies weren't protesting taxes. That's not why they dumped a bunch of tea into a harbor. When you think about it, they had some of the lightest taxes in the British Kingdom, certainly less than what people that lived in England were paying. No, the reason they dumped the tea, the reason they started a war, and the reason they founded a country was because they didn't get to be apart of the decision to have taxes. No taxation without representation. That's what started this whole thing. That's what the founding fathers risked everything for. That's what our ancestors died for. That's what this country is founded upon. Voting. Representation. Having a voice. So there's another reason...

And now I'd like to add one more, that is a little more personal to me. I am personally asking you to vote today because you can. Because you know that no matter who or what you vote for, you can be assured that it will be counted and recorded and if you are with the majority, it will be enacted. As many of you know, I work in International Development. I spend my time learning about impoverished, oppressed nations that have little in the way of comfort, human rights, or even basic dignity. This summer, I went to Southeast Asia and visited Burma. Many people heard about Burma because of the Tsunami. In one day entire villages were swept away, thousands of people died, and fields full of rice were destroyed. People were starving. In the midst of all this, the military dictatorship forced people to stop scavenging for food and shelter (I say scavenging because the government was certainly not providing them with any help) and made them go vote for a bogus constitution that would "legitimize" the illegal and brutal regime there. And if you didn't vote in favor of the constitutional referendum, there was a good chance you would be beaten, or even killed. Oh, and the reason they need a constitutional referendum to "legitimize" their dictatorship is because some years ago, the country held a democratic election and elected Aung San Suu Kyi, a nobel peace prize winner. But of course the military dicatorship didn't like this result very much so she's been under house arrest for 15 years while her supporters have been beaten to death in prison.

Then there was the elections in Zimbabwe this summer. The dictator there has effectively destroyed the country, but fortunately there was a man smart enough and brave enough to challenge President Mugabe in a democratic election. Unfortunately, this man (who had already won a majority in a general election) was in so much danger that he had to flee the country while his supporters were beaten in the street by government-supported goons. President Mugabe won a second general election shortly thereafter.

Now I know that it's annoying to have everyone yelling at you to vote, and even more annoying to have someone guilt you into voting but I want to leave you all with this thought. When I was in Thailand I passed by a humble political rally one day. I asked one of the volunteers what the rally was about and she explained that it was a rally encouraging the Thai people to protect their constitution. The volunteer then asked where I was from. When I told her I was from America, she spent the next ten minutes explaining to me how wonderful my constitution was, that it's been around for two hundred years and that I was so lucky because my leaders had to follow what the constitution said no matter what. She just kept saying over and over how wonderful my constitution was and how lucky I was to have it and how lucky I was that I could vote because of it and that I could hold my leaders accountable because of it. She said I was lucky because I had so much power, so many rights...

I can't make the elections in Zimbabwe free and fair. I can't overthrow the brutal dictatorship in Burma. I can't even stop the recent coup that is destroying the Thai constitution. But I can respect all the people that suffer through these scenarios by exercising the gift and the right that I have been blessed to receive. Please, don't insult their hardships by tossing away the privilege you have like it was some kind of annoyance or burden. Vote. Vote because it counts. Vote because it's American. Vote because you know it will be counted, recorded, and adhered to. Vote simply because you can, and that is a rare and beautiful thing.