It’s no mistake that this election is important and could potentially be a turning point in United States history or even the world. People are lining up one by one to give their support to either side, or even a third party candidate like Gary Johnson. Our nation is divided and everyone has an opinion and needs to pour out their heart on various social media outlets explaining why the people should vote for one and not the others. Yes- this election has produced a lot of division. It seems we are forced between two prevailing options. Surprisingly, it is not between Trump or Clinton. While some will vote for Clinton, some for Trump, and even a select few for Johnson or other third parties, others are choosing to bypass voting in this election. As much trouble as this may cause me with family, friends, and acquaintances, I find myself in the latter half of this unpleasant dichotomy. I will not be voting in this election.
Before I offer any explanation as to why I am not voting, I feel it is necessary to explain my political views in full to prevent confusion. I find myself in the middle of a lot of political issues. I can see both sides, while leaning a little more to the right on issues such as abortion, gun rights, and taxes. I believe less government is better government; certain powers of the government should be left up to the people. I feel that as humans, it is our job to care for the needy, the sick, and the poor, and that we should encourage that. However, I am not in favor of accomplishing that by allowing the government to take others' money, which the people earn and have dominion over. Nor do I support many of the things we have done in the international realm. While Americans should be present to help, we should not get involved in two-sided, clearly foggy disputes. I believe in compassion, but not forced compassion. Having views such as these results in conflicting views of politicians where one thing takes precedent over the others, honesty. I would prefer to vote for the candidate who I feel is the most trust worthy. In this case I think that neither is trust worthy enough. Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem if you support either of these two or even Johnson. I particularly don’t.
No, I do not hate America, and I support the right of anyone to disagree and challenge my beliefs in these matters. I think the United States has done some amazing things and some pretty bad things, but I refuse to fall into either of the opposing categories, whether “the founding fathers were terrible people and America should be ashamed of what they have done,” or “America is the greatest country and anyone who challenges us better beware." Everything has grey areas, and, for the most part, there is no definite answer as to how we should view things,
On to the the impossible task of explaining the somewhat unexplained. First, I believe that there is not a single candidate in this election that is fit to be president in any way. With that in mind, I refuse to choose between evils. Essentially, I dislike them equally. What kind of world do we live in where we have a rich, bombastic, bold, yet successful, businessman on one side, and an establishment backed, careless, puppet-esque, nonetheless experienced, politician as our top two candidates?
As much as it pains me to say this, America doesn’t want a moderate candidate. I don’t want one, you don’t want one, nobody wants one. We want entertainment and someone to get underneath the other side's skin. Who would tick off liberals any more than a man set in his ways who doesn’t care what he says? To most democrats and many others, Trump is racist, sexist, homophobic, and bigoted - essentially the works. He represents everything that liberals hate about conservatives. And who better to irritate conservatives than their antithesis herself, Hillary Clinton? The one who, in the conservative mind, is solely responsible for Benghazi and was careless with her emails to the point of possibly causing a domestic catastrophe? It is all a show, a cage match, in which no matter who becomes the victor, riots will result.
In addition, I find myself in the shoes of a New York State resident who isn’t a Democrat. If you don’t know, New York City is primarily Democratic, and according to NYC’s Department of City Planning, its population accounts for “42.2 percent” of New York state's. If you factor in Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse, which are also primarily Democratic, a vote for someone who isn’t a Democrat is ultimately useless.
I would like my vote to count in some way if I were to not vote Democrat. The electoral college hinders me from doing that and from my vote actually making a difference. I think that the electoral college was a good idea 200 years ago, but in 2016, whether we like to admit it or not, the United States is much more united than it used to be. It is to the point where states rights consist of menial things and nothing majorly moral. This is quite the opposite to what Thomas Jefferson believed and what the civil war was fought over.
With this whole mess of a political system, it should be noted that I don’t believe that things are as bad as they seem. There is a lot worse going on in the world that is heads above any domestic situation we have. With the civil war in Syria and the protests in South Africa to name a few, we have it quite easy. And while America is important to the world's economy and well being as a whole, sometimes I think that we have a heightened view of ourselves and our place in the world. We are still relatively young and developing. Additionally, somewhere deep down, I believe that human compassion and morality will prevail over all. Considering these things, I am not too worried about the election outcome. It will only be a few years, with a maximum of eight, in which we will be under the influence of this president, not to mention the existence of separation of powers and checks and balances to limit the president.
In this world, being surrounded by so many, it can often be hard to have a fixed opinion. As I previously stated, I believe that there is too much grey area for me to come to an accurate conclusion. Every situation has exceptions and different points of view, and as a result, I find myself in the middle. I feel as if I am not qualified or informed enough to make a decision on the best candidate. Honestly, I don’t know who I like better (or dislike worse). All I know is that I was brought up to believe my civic duty was to vote for the candidate that best reflected my views and what I believed was right. I was taught to choose who was best for the nation and who was superior to the others in my eyes. So in the situation that neither is better than the next, it is my civic duty to refrain from voting.
