I’m sorry that you don’t like the candidates. I, too, acknowledge that they aren’t ideal. But they’re not going anywhere. One of them is going to be our president. You are not above these candidates. You’re not! No person is any better or any worse than you. Christians, isn’t this true? Making jokes about the election or choosing not to vote in it does not make you a mature citizen. It means that you are not taking our government seriously. You argue that the candidates don’t take it seriously? Well, then that’s a lot of time and money and energy that they’ve put into something they don’t take seriously. Try running for president and committing to leading a nation and tell me if you would continue doing it if you weren’t serious about it.

So can you stop talking about the charisma and the hairdos of the candidates and start paying attention to their policies and make a decision as to who you will vote for? This election has far-reaching effects. Ignoring the debates or choosing not to register or vote is not a solution; it’s an easy cop-out. You can choose to play video games or hole up in your bedroom and pray and ignore the election and voting day, but that leaves you in the exact same position of apathy and disregard for our country that you complain is displayed by the candidates.

You say that the candidates don’t care about our country or aren’t taking the presidency seriously? Tell me, are you taking it seriously when you make endless jokes about the hopelessness of the election? Are you taking it seriously when you choose not to watch the debates or research the candidates’ policies? Are you taking it seriously when you choose not to watch the debates or research the candidates’ policies? Are you taking it seriously when you share memes that make fun of the candidates’ abilities or professionalism?

If your opinion toward a candidate is based on his or her personality, then you are ignoring what really matters. When you vote, you are not merely voting for a person; you’re voting for a platform, meaning the principles and policies of the party that they represent. That’s not to say that an individual doesn’t impact the decisions of his or her party once in office, but the jokes they make or the color of clothes they wear is not a deciding factor of their impact.

This is an overdue rant, but it’s not too late to change our viewpoints of the importance of this election. If you don’t know anything about politics, it’s not too late to learn. Don’t let the lie that you must know everything about politics in order to make an intelligent decision deter you from educating yourself before you vote. Go online and read through the policies of the candidates and listen to their speeches. Talk to someone you trust.

The 2016 election is our nation’s 45th presidential election. Trust me when I say that it is NOT the first time that people have viewed our nation as corrupt and wailed that the presidential candidates are hopeless. So instead of giving up because you think the world is ending, GO. VOTE. Recognize the gravity of this election and future elections and resolve to address it maturely. Because honestly, the apathy of American citizens towards this election concerns me even more than the shortcomings of the candidates.