Reflecting on the recent election and the general lack of enthusiasm as some of my peers for going out right away voting it makes me think about why we as American's don't exercise this right and cherish the ability that we have to make the decision about who becomes our president. Especially as a woman, which seems to tie in with this cartoon and the fact that the image speaks to woman's suffrage and how hard our predecessors worked to be able to vote, all I can think is why do we take for granted this priviledge. I travelled to China over this summer and was acutely made aware of the political suppression that the Chinese suffer, it was taboo to even bring up politics in a public environment. It made me rethink the things Americans take for granted and how much we overlook how important each and every one of our votes count. We have the mentality that if we don't live in a swing state that our votes are not significant enough to make it matter rather or not we vote, but I think that if it was important enough for there to have been a movement in order for each and everyone of us to vote then why don't we make it our civic duty each election to make our voice known? I don't know the voting stories of many of my peers, but I was elated to go into that booth and then on top of it all I got a sticker!!!
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Why don't we cherish this...right?
Reflecting on the recent election and the general lack of enthusiasm as some of my peers for going out right away voting it makes me think about why we as American's don't exercise this right and cherish the ability that we have to make the decision about who becomes our president. Especially as a woman, which seems to tie in with this cartoon and the fact that the image speaks to woman's suffrage and how hard our predecessors worked to be able to vote, all I can think is why do we take for granted this priviledge. I travelled to China over this summer and was acutely made aware of the political suppression that the Chinese suffer, it was taboo to even bring up politics in a public environment. It made me rethink the things Americans take for granted and how much we overlook how important each and every one of our votes count. We have the mentality that if we don't live in a swing state that our votes are not significant enough to make it matter rather or not we vote, but I think that if it was important enough for there to have been a movement in order for each and everyone of us to vote then why don't we make it our civic duty each election to make our voice known? I don't know the voting stories of many of my peers, but I was elated to go into that booth and then on top of it all I got a sticker!!!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I'm glad you went to China and I'm very happy that you feel this way. I hope you will at some point try to convince those around you who do not chose to participate in the political process that they do so at their own, and more importantly our, peril. Democracy is a wonderful thing, but it only works when people participate in the political process.
ReplyDelete