First and foremost, I want to start off by stating that this is not an attempt to convince anyone to vote for one particular candidate. Instead, I want to stress how important it is for us millenniums to get out and vote.
Like many of you reading this right now, I like to sit back with my friends and talk about candidates that have struck my interest, the change that we need to see within the country, and even the candidates that should be kept as far away from office as possible.
However, although we may like to talk about all that, us millenniums are notorious for not acting. Especially when it comes to anything to do with the government. A majority of us will sit back and say things like "it's not like my vote is going to matter anyway," "I do not want jury duty," or multiple other things regarding the conspiracies we have about the election process.
I'm not going to lie, as much as I want to see the a change I was not going to act either. Until I saw this article, written by Tom Rogan who is a 30-year-old adult white male explaining why he thinks us young voters should not vote for Bernie Sanders, pop up on my news feed.
After reading this article, it did not serve its intended purpose but instead raised my awareness to who's hands we leave the fate of this country in when we do not go out and vote. These hands belong to people who fear change. If you take a look at the raw demographics of voter turnouts it is proven a majority of the voters are white Americans aged 45-60+.This group is not the majority that makes up our country. Although it is clear that the same routine is no longer working for us as a country, a majority of these voters rather keep the routine going, than try something new. Why? Because that's what they grew up knowing.
Which leads me to why it is so important for us millenniums to go out and vote. We grew up witnessing and experiencing the affects of who our elders elected into office. We saw what did and did not work for our country. Some of us even grew up watching our families struggle from it. Overall, our experiences can help us develop standpoints on political issues and are able to form ideas on how they could be improved and make this country overall more sustainable.
We are the future; we are the only ones that can implicate the change to make for a better. This election should be extremely important for us; since within the next four years, all of us millenniums are going to either be faced with paying off various school loans, working full-time jobs or careers, raising families, or simply just trying to make it by. So who's voice do you want to be heard in this election? Why sit back and let the older generations determine what will or will not be available for us, how much and what we pay taxes on, and etc.
The fact of the matter is that if enough of the millenniums get out and vote our voice will make a difference. It's just important that we educate our self on the issues and correctly chose the politician that agrees with our views. Although a certain candidate said he loves the uneducated voters, every other candidate would prefer that you are educated about them and their opponents.
Right now as it stands, Donald Trump is leading in the poles for the republican nomination. We have a high chance of him being our next president. Hopefully, social media has at least made you as scared as I am for this possibility. I could go on about all the lies and twisted things trump has said in both his infomercials and his speeches. But one thing I want to focus on is how there is a story about how two girls were kicked out of his rally in Michigan, one for wearing a Bernie Sanders hat and one for wearing a T-shirt that said trump and had a toilet on it. Upon being thrown out she told the guard it was her right to silently protest, to which the guard responded by saying "not here." Trump is not even president but he is already taking away citizens rights. It is terrifying to think what he will actually do if elected into office. That is why it is so important to educate ourselves on the candidates.
Maybe it is the effort of becoming educated about the policies and candidate that drives us away from getting more involved. But it's not as hard as it seems, there are simple ways to start. For example, this link brings up commonly disputed questions between candidates about Issues within our country and shows whether the democratic and republican candidates are pro or con each issue. This is a quick way to briefly get an idea about what these candidates represent and what you can expect to see if they are elected into office. It is also important to know the background of the candidate you are interested in. This link gives a more in-depth look at the candidates. There are many other sites and videos that can be watched and give you an abundance of information without taking a lot of time.
This is our chance to make a difference and determine how OUR future is going to play out. Us millenniums need to recognize what could be at stake if we just sit back and continue letting everyone else make the decisions for us. Together we can all make a difference. It starts with one vote.
