When Bill Clinton and George Bush Sr. were running for President, my elementary school had a mock election. I voted for Bush because he had the same first name as the first president of the United States, George Washington. My reasoning behind this was that I thought they were related, and that it would only be right for a relative of our first President to be in office. I guess children are stupid.
On November 4th Americans will head to the booths to cast their vote for who they believe is the best fit to lead this country.
I’m not sure if I will be one of them.
I’m not a Democrat or a Republican. I am a man seeking inspiration. It could be the hippie in me, but I have yet to be inspired to go anywhere on the 4th. Voting is a form of expression, and it is a privilege we have been given. Expressions are everywhere and are motivated by events, actions, and our inner beliefs.
When a poet meets their muse, they write a sonnet. When you watch The Notebook, you cry.
Some people would like to call it unpatriotic to even consider not voting, but I believe that not doing so can be more patriotic than those who vote. It’s all about motivations. Is it patriotic to vote for a candidate because you’re a staunch Republican or Democrat? You might disagree with the majority of their views, but you still vote for them because your family has always voted Republican. If people vote for Obama just to see the first black president, or for Palin just to see a woman VP, are they patriotic? Are they doing justice to something that is our “privilege.”
I don’t think so.
I think it is a an abuse of expression to vote just because. It is unpatriotic to vote for someone or something you don’t believe in, and I don’t think that having two prominent parties should corner people into choosing one of the two. If you take nothing from this column, see that you don’t have to vote just because there’s an election. Express yourself.
When we were young we had so much expression. So much honesty and joy. We explored and found things we loved. We were free to choose chocolate milk of over 2%, and making mistakes was still all right.
Along with my belief that Bush Sr. is George Washington’s distant relative, I believed that I was related to Bruce Lee. My First name Bradley, and I thought that because “Ley” and “Lee” sound the same, I must be related to the martial arts legend. It made me so happy to think that I was a “Ley.” We should have been third cousins at least. I guess that I was just na’ve to believe in something great.
I guess children are stupid.