To Vote or Not To Vote Editorial

   Another election has come and gone. The results are still being tallied. At the risk of repercussions to my grade I admit I did not vote, have never voted. My reasons are as follows: I feel my vote counts for little to no effect on politics and if it did it would be a long time coming, my political efforts can be spent in more immediate actions, and I don't want to be associated with politicians. I know, I'm a bad American. Before you judge , or grade me, let me explain. First: Politics has become a viscious circle of blame, lies and corruption. It's not the only industry and not just in this country either. Politicians never use the word civil servant anymore. This attitude is pessimistic, I know. I don't want to participate just the same. It's not my idea of democracy.Second: I had some understanding of the electoral system before this class. Enough to know that any impact my vote had would be washed out by the majority in my state. I should have considered my ability to effect that fact in future races by changing the current election.                                                                                                                                                   This the part where any effect would be far in the future. It is also the fact that irritates and mobilizes me the most. It irritates me because if there is a need, a policy, an action required, we tend to study it or discuss it or wait for it to go away. We don't just DO anything that needs to be done. I know, we are a democracy, we have laws. Sometimes this is an excuse for us to wait for someone else, or legislation, to deal with issues we could handle ourselves. Example; While volunteering in a public school I came across a situation where a student was not allowed to particpate in a field trip due to one abscence. The abscence occurred on a day when students were preparing for a starndardized test. The student was subpoened to appear in court to testify as a victim. The student would have been victimized twice. When the teacher and principal refused to allow the student to participate due to a mandatory attendance policy, I contacted the Superintendent of the school system and the student was allowed to participate. It's not a perfect example but let's apply this to entitlements. Legislators pass laws that either feed, house, or assist Americans with health care. Many people, including legislators, want to cut these programs. The thing is we would not need federal legislation if states and communities handled it themselves. We all see the homeless people but how many of us extend help to them in any way? much less make a personal effort to reach out.                                                                                                                                                           We might not be able to do everything but it doesn't mean we should vote and wait for someone else to solve the problem. We the people still outnumber the problems. Even though I firmly believe we can DO, I now realize I should have voted. It might have affected how much we would need to do in the future.

We Have Nothing To Fear But Fear Itself

  " In Fear Of The Fright Wing" appeared on The Fanaticism and Ignorance Papers blog on Oct. 12, 2010. This piece was a well written opinion on the similarities between fearmongers. The author recognizes the fact that both parties engage in this activity and attempt to sway the public with this tactic. It is clear from this article that the writer spent some time examining the reasons and people behind the activity. I agree with the fact that the cycle seems endless, however, I think the examination should have gone further. The underlying reason why they engage in the activity bears discussion. They do so because fear motivates people. They work hard to use this fact to motivate people in the direction of their choosing. Why are we so afraid? Why do we allow ourselves to be frightened? The fact that they have the power to scare us is the real problem. It means that we trust them to tell us what to be afraid of.