Among the political cacophony, there have been many who have stated that this election year has coerced them into “choosing the lesser of two evils” by casting a ballot for a candidate that they do not have confidence in. And, with a brief look at what this year’s presidential election has to offer, I don’t think we can blame anyone for thinking this way. The brain is wired to look at situations, pick out anything negative and place a great amount of emphasis on that negative. That’s why it’s much easier to remember the mistakes that we make and minimize the accomplishments we’ve made, and that's why it's easier to see the destruction and disarray that each candidate could bring to this country.
However, this mentality fueled by social media’s openness for sharing opinions, candidates mudslinging games, a societal sense of panic and an overall public dislike for politics generates a great amount of political apathy. This apathy encourages a lower voter turnout, and this in turn princesses the likelihood of a social decision that the general public could disagree with. The concept of a democracy entails that the people need to be involved on all levels of legislation. We fail to remember that we vote in all of our government officials on all levels of legislation; the public chooses the governors, senators and representatives in the House.
One thing is certain: the United States is crying for change and this has polarized our nation when we need to be united. And, in order to create this change, we must become more involved with our politics. Political conversations should be had. People should become more informed about the people they have chosen and are choosing to represent them. Our country was founded on people working together to create a society, and I don't think that the modern day should operate under different sets of rules.
To an extent, this election year has generated more political awareness among the general population than in previous years; debate viewing parties are held, research is done on the platforms and opinions that candidates have, more perspectives are being shared and the country has learned to open their eyes.
But, one thing must be stressed. In this year’s presidential election, we mustn’t go into the voting booth with the mentality of “choosing the lesser of two evils.” Instead, we must remember that we are instead “choosing who will bring the most good” for our country.
We must remember that our votes truly do count. We must remember that while the means of each candidate may be different, the ends are always the same. If we tell them that we need the change, they will bring about the change.
It is ultimately up to us to start the wheels of change to turn. We cannot take a passive seat politically and expect anything to change. Under this concept, we are truly one nation. We must remain hopeful, look forward and try to elect people that represent our own personal values and visions of what our country can be.
This November, we must exercise our right to vote. We must remember that there are millions of people who do not have this civil liberty in our country as well as other countries around the world.
Register to vote here, and take this test to find out which candidate’s/party's values align closest to yours.
