The road to the 2016 Presidential Election has been pretty rough thus far to say the least. Whether it be the harsh words of Donald Trump, the somewhat socialist ideas of Bernie Sanders, or the trustworthiness of Hillary Clinton, there seems to be a vague problem with every candidate for the voters who oppose them. You often hear people saying things like "I hate Clinton, she's a crook" or "Trump is a racist bigot who is going to ruin our country," and while the Benghazi scandal is a big reason to question the reliability of Clinton and Trump's extreme frankness are reason to question what he would do as President of the United States, both of these claims ignore the actual politics and issues at hand.
I am not trying to suggest we should ignore the racism and hate speech of Trump or the unethical behavior of Clinton. This article is not about that and is not meant to focus on these two candidates. These are just two relevant examples and were the first to come to mind.
The real issue at hand in the 2016 election is the lack of political awareness and interest in the voting population of the US. So many people complain about how their vote does not count or that they do not like politics. Well, I hate to break it to you, but your vote does count, and politics have a great impact on the way our country is run which affects our day-to-day life.
If you are over the age of 18 in the United States, you are privileged with the right to have a say in electing the leaders of our country. That may be a right guaranteed under the Constitution of our country, but we should never take it for granted because it is a GREAT privilege. So many people around the world live in societies where they have no say. We may not always like the people in office or what they do, but we have the ability to change that which is something that is so amazing about living in this country.
We have a duty to be informed about politics and what is going on in the election. There is that cliche phrase from Uncle Ben from Spider-Man that says,"with great power, comes great responsibility," and the right to vote is a great power because it gives every citizen of age the right to have control over how our country is run. However, we have then a responsibility to educate ourselves about what is going on in our own country and around the world so we can listen to what candidates are proposing and properly assess if it will be the best direction for our country. With this, education and being properly informed gives us a legitimate reason to decide if we dislike a candidate.
Especially with an election as big as the Presidential Election, it is so critical to pay attention because we are electing the person who will be in charge of our country for at least the next four years. The major problem is so many people believe the surface level popular opinions of candidates and do not support a candidate for the right reasons. You should never say you love or despise a candidate if you cannot even describe a basic outline of what their policies and stances are. Of course, all the media surrounding the election makes it very difficult to get to the core of the issues, but it is very important to do so. You must know who you are voting for and know why you are voting for them. Voting for surface-level impressions can have very disastrous results.
I am not suggesting that every voter needs to be an expert politician. However, things like just watching the debates, reading the news, and watching interviews with candidates can do so much to help you understand and be better informed. You never should throw your right to vote out the window solely because you feel that you are uninformed or that your vote does not count. Every vote counts because it shows an American exercising a right that so many people in our country's history have fought for and worked for. It is our job to make ourselves informed about the world around us. No one else can do that for us. Even beyond government elections, being aware of what is happening outside of your own world can do nothing but benefit you.
