A Casual Reminder for Americans · 1:16pm Oct 23rd, 2018
You need to vote. Not only is it your civic responsibility, your privilege as an American citizen, and a vital part of our political system, it's also a way for you-- yes, you-- to take control of the direction this country is going in. I know that a lot of people out there are scared. I am, too. I know a lot of you are sad, or tired, or just plain fed up. I am, too. I know that a lot of you feel that one singular vote can't make any difference in the big political machine. I did, too. But it's never 'just one vote'. It's 'just one vote' multiplied by tens of thousands of apathetic or disenfranchised voters. It's complacency and lack of perspective mixed with a hint of ennui and spread over the country like jam on toast, and it's just as sticky a situation.
In the 2016 presidential election, forty-two percent of registered voters failed to roll up to the polls (source). That's approximately 97,253,781 people. That's a lot of 'just one vote', huh?
Look, I'm not big on making political statements. But this administration has locked children in cages. They've put someone who is almost certainly a rapist and most definitely a tantrum-throwing entitled brat on the Supreme Court. They've overturned so much good work, and are denying climate change even as time runs out to ever recover from it (According to the U.N.). Even now, they're working to pass legislation that will basically eradicate any legal footing that trans people have to identify as their gender. So you know what? I'm scared. I'm sad, and I'm tired, and I'm fed up with it all. But more than any of that, I'm angry. If any of what I've said strikes a chord in you, then please, please, please go out and vote. It's the only control we have over this political system.
Yep, those that don't use it, lose it
What possible reason could you have to not vote?
I am so voting. Count on it.