Over the past several days, the media has been bombarding us
with “GO VOTE!” messages. While I agree that this is an important message, I also
think that those Americans who were not going to vote in the first place will
not be affected by these messages.
If you ask me, this can be attributed to our tendencies to
take things (such as the right to vote) for granted. We see this tendency often
within the agriculture industry. In the U.S., consumers have the privilege of
being able to be picky at the grocery store. Many people look for food that was
produced organically, without sub-therapeutic antibiotics or hormones, grass-fed,
etc. All of these production methods are great-- except for one thing: they
often don’t produce the high yields that we can achieve with the use of modern
farming practices. This abundance of food in turn gives us the ability to be
picky at the grocery store. The problem is that most of us have had the privilege of an abundant food supply for our entire lives. We have not experienced anything different, so it is easy for us to take it for granted. This same idea applies to our right to vote. Obtaining this right took years of fighting and sacrifice- and yet so many of us choose not to take advantage of it.
No one can force you to vote, but if you take a step back and try to realize what you are giving up by not voting, it may change your mind. Billions of people around the world are still fighting today for the rights that you have always had as an American; don’t take that for granted.
Everyone together now… GO VOTE!!!
