Welcome back! Take a seat and relax a bit and let me take a moment of your time. In my last article, I touched on the subject of how the self-disenfranchisement of the people has slowly led to the decline of American democracy as envisioned by our forefathers. It will be painless I promise, and I hope to motivate you to do something to fix the problem! In this edition to my series, I will explore the historical basis to my theory, as well as offer up a simple solution to the problem.
To get to the root of the problem, we must first travel back in time to the birth of this country. In the beginning, it was not only socially acceptable to participate in elections, but to not participate was seen as akin to treason. Everyone voted. Polls were kept open for days to ensure everyone had an opportunity to get to the polls. The voters even traveled for 20 or more miles by horse to vote! Voter turnout continued to be relatively high until the late 1960's and early 1970's. Then there was Vietnam and the Hippie movement.
With the counterculture motto of, “turn on, tune in, and drop out”, there was a decline in voter turnout. The people thought that by not voting, they were in effect boycotting the American system and could bring about change. What they failed to realize is that the powers that be were probably happy with the Hippie's tactics, because now the only people voting in elections were people that agreed with what they were doing. This voter protest continued until the late 1990's in what I call the “My vote don't count anyway” generation.
In the “My vote don't count” generation, what started as a peaceful way to protest what the government was doing turned to complete voter apathy in the late 1990's. The children of the Hippies taught their children than voting is no longer a civic duty, but a way of conforming to the governments wishes. Voting was seen as a way of approving of the system. This leads to the phenomenon that exists today that I call the self-disenfranchisement of the people.
We as voters must realize that not only is voting the patriotic thing to do, it is our ONLY voice of dissent with our government. The polls are our check on the governments power. Think back to the civil rights movement, if voters had not put into office the politicians willing to institute change, we may still have a segregated south. If voters would not have elected leaders willing to allow women to vote, it may have taken 40 more years for their inclusion in the electorate. By not voting, eligible voters are destroying everything that has been achieved in this country. They are turning power over to those that will abuse it. It is time to exercise your right to put a check on the system. GET OUT AND VOTE!!!
