Maybe my life is just really and truly sad. Or maybe I just really and truly appreciate the beauty and all-around-awesomeness of this day. Today. Election Day.
Finally.
I followed the primaries, I've seen the debates, I watched the TV commentaries and specials, I read the newspaper articles. I tried to get more insight into the issues I care most about or should care more about: Education, health care, the economy. I had discussions with friends, colleagues, and online weirdos.
I'm psyched.
I'm also bummed because for some reason I cannot wrap my head around the fact that a nation as grand and awe-inspiring as the USA (Yes, I'm a fan...) is experiencing and predicting such an abundance of problems. Morally reprehensible campaigning, disenfranchised blocks of voters, voter fraud, etc.
But more on this some other time...Maybe.
As usual, I do have a candidate I am rooting for (...with quite a bit of enthusiasm, too. Ha!), but today I'm even more excited about voting.
It's a simple enough process; a process most people take for granted or even choose to ignore.
Voting is a right and privilege many of our ancestors did not have. So they fought for it. Bitterly sometimes. Deciding not to vote or claiming that politics is not 'interesting' to you is like saying your life is not interesting to you. We live in societies. With other people. We all have shared interests. We drive on the same roads, go to the same schools, eat the same food. We all need a doctor or a police officer sometimes. We share responsibilities and tasks in societies.
So, hell yes! Transportation, education, food safety, health care, law enforcement -everything- is to some extent a shared endeavor.
Why would you not want to participate in the process that comes up with laws, guidelines and regulations? Why would you not want to make your voice heard?
Many of our contemporaries in other countries still do not have this right and privilege. Their opinions go unheard. They cannot cast their ballot and make a difference.
We can.
I feel supremely cheesy as I am typing all this, but I don't care: Today I want to revel in the glory of the voting process, the beauty of the democratic system. Voting. So simple, yet so beautiful.
I'm loving it.
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3 comments:
I didn't vote in the last elections because I was too lazy to get my Voter ID transferred to the state I live in now. But you can bet your bottom shekel I will be be voting in the national elections to be heald early next year.
My daughter lives in the town of Jackson, Wyoming. In Her county (Teton), over 97% of the registered voters cast votes! This election - and especially Barack Obama (who won Teton County handily) - has really engaged Americans like nothing since 9/11/2001. Let's hope we can convert the energy to positive action!
--Richh
i like ur blog too much keep it up...
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