The 2016 election is upon us. If you weren't aware of that, you must have been living under a coral reef (I tried). There have been so many campaigns that have come and gone, but now there are only three that remain. It's not just Trump and Hillary, but sadly this third campaign isn't another person you can vote for. It's a campaign to encourage young people to go out and vote. Celebrities like Katy Perry and Madonna have been encouraging young people to fulfill their civil duty, and vote in the upcoming election. It has been a known fact that younger people tend not to vote. Personally I've always found it ridiculous how you could care so little about the future a country that you will probably live in for most of your life. But I started to think about this more and more as we read Civil Disobedience in class this week.
I was intrigued by the paragraph that describes the uselessness of voting. Initially I had thought that Thoreau was completely wrong, but why? Celebrities, politicians, teachers, and society tells you that your vote is one of the most important thing you can do to change and guide the future of the country. But "voting is a sort of gaming" (1020). You're relying on others to think the way you do and vote the way you do to get what you want. It's like a group project where you know exactly how you want it to turn out but you let the others do your work.
Voting is important. I can't argue with that since it's the way our country works, but what happened to taking action? What happened to protests during the 50's against the Vietnam war, or the sit ins and boycotts during the Civil Rights Movement?
My sister once told me about her college professor who was apart of race protests. In the class they were talking about the rising cost of tuition and the unmanageable student loan debts. He said that if he was in that situation, he would be outside the board of admissions protesting until he got change. What changed since then? There are too many problems that face our country for us to just write comments on Now This Election videos bashing Trump or Clinton, and say that that's enough contribution until the next election comes around. But quite frankly that's that way it is. I wish more people including myself had the courage and fire to take action like my sister's professor did, but it's a new generation. Change now happens online in emails and petitions, which is an incredible advancement from letters and petitioning on the sidewalks and very effective. But I believe that leaving the screen of your computer and putting yourself out in the real world to encourage change will make a statement greater than any of us have every typed.
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| The Hulk wants you to vote. |
I was intrigued by the paragraph that describes the uselessness of voting. Initially I had thought that Thoreau was completely wrong, but why? Celebrities, politicians, teachers, and society tells you that your vote is one of the most important thing you can do to change and guide the future of the country. But "voting is a sort of gaming" (1020). You're relying on others to think the way you do and vote the way you do to get what you want. It's like a group project where you know exactly how you want it to turn out but you let the others do your work.
My sister once told me about her college professor who was apart of race protests. In the class they were talking about the rising cost of tuition and the unmanageable student loan debts. He said that if he was in that situation, he would be outside the board of admissions protesting until he got change. What changed since then? There are too many problems that face our country for us to just write comments on Now This Election videos bashing Trump or Clinton, and say that that's enough contribution until the next election comes around. But quite frankly that's that way it is. I wish more people including myself had the courage and fire to take action like my sister's professor did, but it's a new generation. Change now happens online in emails and petitions, which is an incredible advancement from letters and petitioning on the sidewalks and very effective. But I believe that leaving the screen of your computer and putting yourself out in the real world to encourage change will make a statement greater than any of us have every typed.
First of all, I find your puns hilarious.
ReplyDeleteSecond, I do believe people are willing to get off of their couches and onto the streets for something they believe in, but too often it is for the wrong reasons. Instead of focusing on the election at hand, people pour their time and energy into organizations like BLM. Organizations such as these are important, but there is a time and a place for everything, and right before election day is not one of those times.