I'm not sure how popular this is going to be, but I think it's time to remind my fellow millennials- and my fellow Americans- of something:
You need to vote in this election.
I know, I know. Both candidates are controversial, to say the least. And in my opinion, they would both make completely awful presidents. Most people agree with me on that. Electing either one of these candidates seems to be something that would really hurt America, in the short and long run.
But we all seem to be forgetting some important things.
First of all, someone's going to be elected either way. There are diehard supporters of Clinton and hardcore Trump believers. And despite the crazy number of problems with both candidates, those supporters are still going to head to the polls on November 8 and vote. All that it really comes down to if that happens is which person has more supporters. Not whoever's going to actually make the better president, just whoever got more peoples' votes.
And more importantly, because we've been incredibly blessed with the right to vote. We live in a country that allows us to actively participate in the government and the leaders that take charge in it. People are dying in other places in the world for the same right that we take for granted. And there's a responsibility that comes with that: it's our duty to participate in the government. To shirk that responsibility is to treat every sacrifice laid down for this country like they're meaningless. It basically says that we don't value the rights we've been given. That we care more about proving a point against someone than remembering the work that it took to secure our freedoms.
I'm not writing this as a lecture, I'm writing this as a plea. Don't take the rights you have for granted, just because you don't think someone's worth voting for. It might be a hard, awful choice that seems to have no right answer, but this is important. The decision that we have to make as a country will affect us for the next four to eight years. And that's not something to take lightly. Not voting to prove a point solves nothing; the best way to help the country is to make your voice heard. We've been given a right that some people haven't been given. Use it. I'm not going to tell you who to vote for, who's the lesser of two evils. Use your best judgment on that one. But please, just use your voice. Get informed, learn the facts and who the candidates are, and vote.
