Rebels without a cause

 

With the near-constant TV fanfare of the upcoming presidential election, it is easy for one to become disillusioned with politics and voting in general. Rapper Kendrick Lamar communicated as much when discussing his refusal to vote, saying it was a pointless act considering the untold political power held above the general public by those in office.

However, it is not just celebrities voicing their apathy towards the voting process.

There are numerous students among the campus showing a general disinterest in voting in the election. The reasons range from an assurance that the candidate of their choice is going to be elected, to the more worrisome example of the registration process being too difficult and not worth the effort.

While these students raise valid points, participating in any and all presidential elections is still a critical action that must be maintained by the general populace, especially young students.

Many will call that last statement into question, arguing that with such a huge selection of people, a person’s vote really doesn’t count much.

Aside from that, casting a ballot gives us an official way to show that we have some sort of say in the eyes of the government. We are all important, but having a vote in any process shows that we have a vested interest in what politicians do.

For those who already believe that the government excessively goes over the heads of the public, imagine what would happen if we gave them a reason to.

But even simpler than that, voting is one of the sure-fire ways to get matters in the world done. By putting trust in a politician through the act of voting, we are taking steps to ensure the problems we care about are being taken care of.

Yes, there will be discontent among the millions of people with differing opinions about how a problem should be resolved. And yes, the solutions of these problems will probably take longer to find because of this discontent.

But this is why we have elections—to see which politicians best meet the collective wishes of the public. And when all is said and done, we will do it again in a few more years.

There are valid points as to why one should not bother to invest so much time into participating in the election, but the actual act of voting should be considered reason enough to put forth the effort anyway.