Citizenship. Rights. Being a part of the choices that decide the future and how things are going to play out (also known as voting). All of those things mesh together to create what happens when you live in a certain place. Depending on your situation and the government at the time, you are probably a citizen of whatever country that you live in. And well, if you are not, then unfortunately you are the target of (as usual, really) unnecessary hatred and racism.
Throughout your life, you are going to see many elections. These elections are going to decide your, for lack of a better term, fate while living in the country you are in. That is extremely important. But what is the point of having this right to vote and the ability to if you are not going to educate yourself on matters beforehand?
June 23rd, 2016. This is the day that the UK held a referendum regarding whether or not the UK should continue to be a part of the European Union or not. The vote was simple--you either voted to remain, or to leave. This referendum and the decision to leave coined a name that caught on in the media: Brexit (Britain exits). Unfortunately for many people, including the younger generation who will actually have to live with this decision, the vote to leave was slightly won by just under 2% (51.9% to leave, 48.1% to remain). This decision has brought feelings of unease to the people who voted to remain, and those who now realise that they made the wrong decision.
John Oliver of Last Week Tonight had a segment on his show that went more in depth as to why the UK should vote to stay (the video was uploaded on June 19th).
All in all, the things that the UK citizens were told would happen after they left, more than likely are not going to happen. The UK needs to stay, or rather should stay.
It is important to take a few minutes to look into the thing that you are voting for. Articles from multiple sources have looked at the search spike of what exactly Brexit is and what it would mean to leave the European Union. See Daily Mail, NPR, and The Independent, just to name a few. “What happens if we leave the EU?” Well if you did not know what would happen if you left, then maybe there should not have been a vote to let you decide.
Democracy is a great thing. Having the right to vote is a great thing, but there is no point in having that right when there is a common theme of no one knowing what is actually going on. When you are not educated on the things happening around you, you are easily manipulated. It is this way with the Immigration Laws that people what to put into order, it is this way with the hate towards LGBTQ+ people, and those with different religions. All of this goes back to one thing: are you educated in what you are voting on?
There are multiple reasons why the UK should stay with the European Union--the fact the pound has dropped to its lowest point in thirty years just being one of them (not to mention that stock markets around the world also fell after the vote results were announced). The economy of one country will affect the economy of the next.
Let us not even start on the US Presidential Election that has even more people shaking in their boots.
It is important that we educate ourselves on the things that we are responsible for voting for. If you vote for one thing just because you did not think your vote mattered, you are wrong. Your vote does matter. But the tricky thing is that since your vote and your voice matter, it is your responsibility to make sure that you are informed on the things that are happening. Read the news articles, but read them from different sources. Read the right winged articles, the left winged articles, read the ones that are the most neutral they can be. Watch the news. Listen to the people talk around you and take part in that conversation. The younger generations have a choice. We can either take charge and change what we want and make those decisions that we can live with, or we let the older generations make decisions that leave us with a mess.
Educate yourself. Keep up with what is going on. Make sure you know that all politicians lie, but some lie more than others. Know where you stand, and know that it is okay to be unsure. If you want to vote for Trump, fine. If you want to vote for Clinton, even better. Sanders was the best choice (in my personal opinion), but he probably does not stand a chance anymore. No one cares who you vote for anyway until it is too late. So try to figure out what you think is best for the country you are living in, but make sure you know how that affects your friends, family, and the other countries across the world. A decision made just within your country doesn't just affect your country. It affects everyone.
