Wednesday, October 15, 2008

The Right to Vote?

Well, another Federal election has come and gone - thankfully. I myself do not vote, and quite frankly this choice was made for the plain and simple fact that, well, I just can't find myself caring. This is especially true when: a. we just had a federal election (are we going to turn this into an image-tarring, pertinent issue dodging event to be held and subsequently scoffed at every nine months?) and b. I didn't see, in any way, shape, or form, any significant change arising out of this forum. Too, I should point out that along with my apathy towards the voting process comes an absence of complaining. You will not hear me whining about financial policy or foreign military involvement - which is part-in-parcel to my stance on voting at this juncture in my short and thus far politically uninvolved life. What did amaze me though - almost to the point where I considered stopping in at my local polling station - was the amount of involvement in the process by my peers. There are not enough fingers on my hands to count the number of times I was asked if I had voted? Answer: no. Response: GASP...eye roll...and somewhat snide, "Well, why not??" Essentially, my response was the same each time, "I just don't have it in me to care, and besides, I don't know enough to make an informed choice." Perhaps one day though, when I get through the mindset of taking life one step at a time - an approach which every now and then leaves me stepping in it - I will mark a ballot box. The encouraging thing to me though was that my generation, often misjudged for being lazy, devoid of communication skills vis-a-vie the text message revolution, and considered to have lost the attention span to read and enjoy a good book is taking a stand...and perhaps ultimately having their voices heard. But wait...on the flipside, when my choices include Stephen "not really too sure what to think of you" Harper, Stephane "man you look more scared than Bambi in a headlight show" Dion, or Jack "somehow I'll find the money to make our country work like Sweden" Layton, maybe I was right not to vote.

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