Let me be honest. Generally speaking, I have never been a very political person. When I was younger, I did not care much for politics. I knew the basic ideas of each party, their symbols, that our president is a Democrat and that we hold a presidential election every four years. In the past year, that has changed tremendously. I turned 18, which is the year we become adults, the year we gain the right to vote. This responsibility is different from when you get your license or your first job at 16, so imagine my initial disappointment when the first election I get to vote in involves the candidates at hand. As I experienced the campaign in the past year, that disappointment dissolved. I knew as a first-time voter I wanted to share what I picked up along the way.
Our country is ripe for change. The biggest evidence of this is that our Republican nominee is a businessman who has no background in politics whatsoever. Yes, one of our presidential choices is not a politician. One of the front runners in the Democratic party suggested policies both conservative and liberal. What this expresses is that we as a nation want to change. Our country is only 240-years-old and we have had 44 presidents. If I learned anything in my high school history classes, it is that change is inevitable in a civilized society. We have evolved and developed ideas we did not have 240 years ago. As a civilized, intelligent, thoughtful population we need a change to grow, and it shows in this election. We look toward the future.
As a member of that future, I dug through all the memes and jokes to understand the opinions and thoughts of my generation. People under 30 have plenty to say about the 2016 election. Engaging in politics, reading the news, talking to our peers, watching the debates and following stories, we have formed our own opinions. I've noticed that we are very passionate about our opinions and will disassociate from people because of their stance on certain policies. We decided we want to make our views known in politics because this is the first time a lot of us have a voice in an election. As the future of this country, it is urgent and imperative that older generations realize that we have something to say. Overall, we support the LGBTQA+ community, our immigrant neighbors, friends; we support race, gender, sexual orientation and ethnic equality. We are socially liberal but economically conservative. We want a leader who voices the same ideas as us, and we want to take part in a discussion of both opposing and allied ideas. My generation is all too aware that older generations think that we are “too young” to fully understand what we are saying. However, we are the voice of the future and I have learned not to take our voice lightly because we are also the most passionate group of people. We will fight for you to hear us. And as new voters, we have something to say.
We the voters who are "too young" to understand realize that people of our nation are willing to give up parts of their freedom for a change. The prevalent racism in parts of the country, the refusal to accept that love is love, the want to “Make America Great Again,” we see it and we are confused. We see people support policies that restrict the freedom of our LGBTQA+ brothers and sisters, our immigrant neighbors, our friends of different color and our male and female family members. Why does a nation founded on the liberty of the people, advocate for a candidate who is more than ready to limit the freedom of people who helped build this country? We are aware and affected by the continuing violence in the world, the attacks on movie theater goers, educated students, bright-eyed children, religious people, the LGBTQA+. And, we know that turning to support someone who pushes for “safety” of our people by promoting to change the foundation of our nation, is not the solution.
The sum of the above is the most significant piece I have come to find: how crucial it is to vote in November. I will admit that I'm new to this, but observing the country this past year, the paramount thing I have understood is the importance to exercise your right to vote. In such a pivotal election as this one, your individual voice is louder than you think. If you wholeheartedly support one of the candidates, go vote, don't be lazy and say “oh someone else will so I don't have to.” You're wrong. If everyone thinks that, well, you can add the two together. I acknowledge there is a large part of the population who will go and vote for the Republican candidate. You have every right to vote for your choice, but I have one thing to say to his supporters. Set aside his lack of political background and his persuasive tendencies and look at your friends and family. How do his words, actions, and policies oppress the ones you hold close to your heart? You may think that what he is saying is creating a better nation for you overall, but is that worth overlooking those who raised you and made you who you are? To those who prefer neither candidate on the ballot, I cannot stress enough how important your vote is. Write in your choice, write SOMETHING. If you’re a Bernie supporter voting for Trump because you do not approve of Hillary, that makes less than no sense. Write-in Bernie, make your choice heard. Past elections have shown there is always one to two percent of voters who vote for another or third party. We expect that to happen. If you truly do not think either candidate will justly run our country, show it. Be a statistic. If the “other” goes up to two, three, maybe four percent, that speaks volumes. You’re probably right in thinking that who you write-in is pointless, but the statistic you will create speaks so much about our population's opinion of our leaders. And to those who don't know who to support, observe, do some research, you'll discover where you fit in. Generations before us did not fight for our suffrage to be unused. It is a gift that many don't have the opportunity of receiving.
This country should look to see what they have learned. I’m an observer, its what I do. I watch situations unfold, I know about people, places, and things. I was able to write this 1000+ word article on what I have grasped during this campaign and what it states about us. But, like I said, I have never been a very political person.
