A few weeks ago, a bunch of really famous actors told me who to vote for. I have been honest, before that moment, I was truly torn. Now that Robert Downy Jr. and that dude from “The Interview” told me who to vote for, I think I’ve made my decision… You see, they were nice enough to remind me of the date, the reasons why and how to get registered, so that when November 8 rolls around, I can squish my uninformed finger atop the bolded, Times New Roman font, “Hillary Clinton”.
It’s these types of commercials that send me into a bit of a craze. To think that someone our age, sitting in their parent’s basement watching re-runs of “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” pops their head off the pillow to go vote just because Agent Phil Colson told them to is ridiculous. Someone needs to remind them that Kanye isn’t running until 2020.
This brings me to why I brought up such a dippy ad. If you haven’t already, you are going to be told that you have the right to vote and therefore you have the duty to vote! The front-end part of that is entirely correct, it’s the latter which I want you to focus on. For it is that conclusion which is entirely false. While you do have the right, you do NOT have the duty to vote.
As political commentator, Matt Walsh, once put it, “If you think planes fly because of pixie dust, you don’t belong in the cockpit. If you think chicken can be consumed if it’s cooked medium rare, you don’t belong in the kitchen. If you think the phrase “branches of government” has something to do with arboriculture, you don’t belong in the voting booth.”
As Americans, when it comes to voting, we have only one duty, and that is to be informed. At the very least, we must understand the ways in which our government operates and what each of the current candidates believe. We must be able to answer questions like, “What are the 3 branches of government?” or “What year was our nation founded?” or best yet, “Who won the civil war?” By the way, if you are struggling to answer those questions, they came from a fifth grade government test.
We are at a point in the political arena that candidates lie and pander to whoever stands before them. Whether they are saying, “I’ll build a wall!” or “I’ll give you free college!” it is our duty, as individuals, to be able to look through the smoke and mirrors and discern whether or not their words are truth. Remember, candidates have a glowing incentive to tell you to ignore the haters and just go out and vote for them. As this election has proven, a lot of voters will do just that. Do not be that voter.
We all know that knowledge is power. I believe if we grasp ahold of our true civic duty, we can change the entire world. However, until then, we will be stuck with clowns like Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.