A Perspective on Voting

A piece on voting that I originally published on my Facebook page in November

It went from years to months to days to hours, and now, today, brings with it the close to the election season (technically), and while we may only be a week or two from the unofficial start of the next election season (if it isn’t already upon us), it is important to take a moment to reflect on what we are hoping to accomplish on this first Tuesday after the first Monday of November.

Democracy isn’t perfect. Anyone that tells you it is, well, is running for something.

• Everyone’s candidate can’t win every time.
• Everyone’s problems can’t be addressed every time.
• Everyone’s expectations can’t be met every time. 

At its best, democracy is a blurry reflection of where a republic both is and what it hopes to become, and therefore the exercise of voting can’t be graded by whether your candidate won or lost.

If you choose not to vote (as opposed to "can't"), while I won’t agree with your decision, I will respect it as long as your reasoning is supported by a clearly-stated, non-ranting perspective on why you don’t agree with any proposed strategy for how this country can improve (and this includes any and all third-party platforms as well). Anything less than this is, frankly, irresponsible to yourself and your community.

There are few things on this planet that are as personal and unique as the human thought process. Of course, we all know the derogatory jokes about opinions (and what bodily orifice they are like), but in truth, our ability to synthesize information and form ideas is a mechanism that is too often taken for granted, as is the ability to voice those thoughts in hopes of shaping the future. So, don’t look at today’s election as finally coming to an end; look at it as yet another opportunity to share your beliefs on how your country can improve.