Don't Vote!

Election time is coming, and you may be thinking to yourself that your one vote doesn't mean squat in the large scheme of things. What power can one vote have on the outcome of one of the most important decisions facing our country and the world?

You may be right: your vote may not count for much, but realize that if everyone subscribed to that fatalistic thinking, and only one person decided to vote, that single vote would have the unbelievable power to decide the entire outcome of the election. When you don't vote, you renounce your own political freedom and give it away to others who may not subscribe to your philosophical outlook, and who may even want to deprive you of some of the rights you hold dear, whatever they may be.

That's just the practical lesson, but there is another element perhaps even more important. As social creatures, our actions don't exist in a vacuum; what we do can and does affect others, and this reveals our tremendous social and civil responsibilities. It's not just about going to some booth and casting a vote based on what candidate or party you like; it's about educating yourself about the important issues and the candidates running because the winner will have the power, for better or worse, to change the world. When election time approaches, I always think back to the words of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who could hardly have said it better:

Born as I was the citizen of a free state and a member of its sovereign body, the very right to vote imposes on me the duty to instruct myself in public affairs, however little influence my voice may have in them.

Go register, educate yourself, and vote.
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