America, If You Don’t Vote; Don’t Complain

All eyes will be on the United States next week as it decides who its next leader will be.  Regardless if you live in the USA, Canada, England or any democratic country in the world, we have a precious right that some people simply take for granted.  Honorable men and women fought and died in two World Wars so that each of us would have the privilege every four years to mark an “X” on a ballot and have a say as to our country is run.  Yet there are so many people that simply do not exercise their democratic right, why?  If you are one of these people, you do not have the right to complain, end of story

Some feel the system does not accurately reflect their priorities and that their vote does not matter.  Really?  In 2000, George W. Bush beat Al Gore by less than 1,000 votes in Florida to win the presidency.  Do you think you could find 1,001 people in Florida who did not vote, but, if they had to, they would have voted for Gore?  That would have meant a completely different administration in the White House.  Would they have been complacent leading up to 9-11?  Maybe, maybe not, but do you think they would have gone to war with Iraq that had nothing to do with 9-11 and never had weapons of mass destruction.  I don’t think so. 

By all accounts this upcoming election between Harris and Trump will be very close too. Who’s to say that we could not have a similar situation like we did in 2000.  Maybe Pennsylvania will swing the balance of power, and the Keystone State will be decided by 1,000 votes or less.  It will not surprise me if history repeats itself.

So why do some people stay home?  The reasons vary.  Many will say they do not like either candidate.  Some will say they are lifelong Republicans, and they would never vote for a Democrat, but they cannot support Donald Trump, so they stay home, and, unfortunately, some simply do not give a damn.   It is the last category that bothers me the most.  Those people simply do not respect what they have.  There are literally millions around the world that do not have the right to vote for a candidate.  How many people have been imprisoned as political prisoners in Russia, China, or North Korea?

Woody Allen once said that 90 percent of life is showing up.  It is time to stand up and be counted.  You cannot be complacent.  Democracy is a precious thing, but it only works if we all do our part. If you are quiet on election day, you have to stay quiet for the next four years.

 Cheers,

Al

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