As everyone knows, the presidential election of 2016 is upon us and it's gonna be a sh*tshow. More than ever it's important that millennials turn out and actually vote or we'll get stuck with everyone's favorite crazy uncle with an awful combover, Donald Trump. If that doesn't sound like the end of times to you, then you are a truly terrifying human being. Seriously dudes, get registered to vote ASAP, I'll even post a handy little link for where you can register, just because I know you're all lazy as sh*t.
Now I know there are people (idiots) out there who like to say "Why vote? it doesn't matter anyway, lolz!" Well yeah, that's bullsh*t and I'll tell you why. First off, this country is a democracy and maybe this is a big scary word for some of you so let me break this down: the people (that's us) vote for our leaders (that's the people who say "vote for me") and then they're supposed to make decisions that we (that's us again) approve of. Now, reread that sentence and tell me what the key word is. I'll wait. In case you couldn't put two and two together, the key word here is "vote." Now you may be asking yourself, "Maya, what is voting?" Well, dear reader, let me educate you.
Voting, in the United States at least, is when an American citizen who is 18 years old (or older) is registered in his/her state to get a fancy little thing called a ballot and bubbles in some circles and picks a man or woman to take political office. Crazy, right? At the end you even get a little sticker that says "I Voted" so people know you're smart enough to use your freedom of speech to make decisions in politics. It's great, and it takes like, I don't know, half an hour depending on how long the line is. And then you get a dope sticker and you can tell all your friends about how you did something more worthwhile with your American citizenship than visiting foreign countries and refusing to speak the native language. Sorry #notallAmericans do that, but not all Millennials vote either.
Now I'm gonna take a second and talk to all the Bernie Sanders supporters on my timeline who love sharing little Tumblr posts on how smart and great he is and how he's gonna change the world and all that rainbow/fairy/daydreams sh*t. Great use of your social media presence and all, but how exactly do you think he's going to do all that if he doesn't get elected? Sorry to tell you but Facebook likes and shares don't equal votes. Sanders, more than any other politician in the election, depends on your votes to have any success in this election. And newsflash: y'all are failing him, big time.
The need to vote isn't just for those of you who are feeling the Bern, this one goes out to every single person aged 18 to 34. Get off your ass, click this link and register to vote ASAP, and actually do it. If you're one of those people who don't vote and like to complain about the current political climate, maybe you should do something about it. Like, what's the word I'm looking for? Oh yes, voting. So show up and turn out for your state primaries and come November, I better see you at the polls.
