I go to school on a rather liberal campus at a liberal arts college in western Pennsylvania. Given the political climate in the United States today, between political correctness, the looming election of 2016, and the absurdly high occurrence of party candidate debates (I hope that I am not the only one rather puzzled by this televising of debates from either party), I have overheard the discussions about moving to Canada, America's baseball hat; the mobilization of citizens for revolution in order to dissolve our government and to start a new; and the, "Oh, I don't really care for politics" response. (Deep breath.) Alright, I am going to start discussing this from the rear and return to the front.

Political in-activism.

I am an ardent a supporter and believer in your right to practice your free speech in whatever manner you decide necessary. You want to not vote at the age of suffrage and any time after that; good on you -- practice that freedom. Be forewarned: If you do not participate in the 2016 election for the President, as well as Congressional and State representatives, and whatever other elections are up, you have no rational or founded reason to take part in political criticism, action against the state (riots, armed rebellion, governmental restructuring, etc.), nor a valid reason to move away. In practicing your right to not vote, you are shooting yourself in the foot.

The vote is a precious gift that all able Americans should cherish ad hold dear. If you want a change or someone else representing you in this fine and beautiful Federal Presidential democratic Republic of ours, participation is mandatory and no an option. If you don't participate, your convictions and concerns don't mean squat. And for the sake of our nation's health, We, the People, cannot sit idly by.

Dynamite and disintegration.

I am a firm believer of the phrase, "of the people, by the people, for the people." I think that this is the finest way to verbalize what the United States government is and should be. According to political theorist John Locke, the purpose of government is the defense, promotion, and welfare of the rights of the citizens in which the government has been charged with. To this end, if a government fails to uphold this duty, primarily the defense of the citizen's life, liberty, and their pursuit of happiness (property is a part of this, too), then it is the duty of the virtuous citizen is to alter and reestablish a finer form of governance in which manner the defense of the rights of the citizen are protected.

In past scenarios, instances of armed rebellion have occurred in direct response to a perceived failure to protect these rights. Instances include the Whiskey Rebellion in 1791 and the American Civil War: both in direct correlation to the imposition of the will of the Federal government on those rights of the people.

This is being written on March 11, 2016 AD: We live in an era when we should be able to speak like adults to one another and solve our political issues kindly and constructively in a country where it is your right to be different and have a differing opinion from others. From a practical standpoint, a tyranny of the masses simply cannot exist in the United States: majority rue is what our nation would dissolve into with absolute anarchy -- not productive. Complete destruction and shut down of our nation by force will destroy us and lead to further and greater conflict in civil war because I do not trust enough of my fellow countrymen and countrywomen to act in the interest of the greater good. Instead a suggest an alternative: vote. It isn't hard. In doing so, you actively rebel against the status quo that so many of us seem to have qualms about and in doing so, promote the dissolving of the government you disagree with.

The moment my government seeks to take away my life and liberty and halt me from my pursuit of happiness that does not conform to the rights I have given to MY government to guard, I shall, too, take up arms. I hope to never see that day.

Expatriate exodus.

I recently spent my last fall break in Toronto, Canada and had an absolutely wonderful time. I loved having my currency be worth more than another country's when buying drinks at the bar and racking up a tab that made some of the bartenders blush-maybe I was just imagining the blush; I don't know, I was drunk and feeling a bit jingoistic at the time. The point is, Canada really is a nice place that isn't so terribly different from the U.S. But what Canada is, is a place that isn't our home. Sure, in a few years time you might be granted naturalization and citizenship, partake in the socialist economic safety-net that your taxes pay for, and maybe enjoy picking up a new accent, eh? But here is where I disagree.

If we all move away to Canada? What's to become of the United States? Is it a deranged beast of a nation that we let wither away as it eats itself alive? In good consciousness, I cannot actively stand to the side and watch my country die after all that it has done for my family, ancestors, and myself. Nor can I permit myself to be distant when the memory of those who have fought to save and keep this country are both around me and on my mind. What sort of service is that? The freedoms and liberties that those brave citizens and friends of America died for are the tools of our government that we all individually wield to carve the America we want to live in. Our votes chisel out the candidate who will lead us as a nation. If we fail to practice our civic duties, we volunteer failure as our own. In voting, we make a stand -- by standing firm to our beliefs and convictions in order to provide for our fellow citizens and our posterity.

What I'm saying is this: If we, the American public, abandon our country, our home, in response to an elected candidate that we did nothing to stop because we couldn't be bothered to vote: then we are as at fault as anyone else when our home is destroyed worse than New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

If we don't go out and vote this (ought to be a) holiday season, only we are accountable for our nation's failure -- no one else.