Voting (Steve)

So this is my first time blogging, and I normally wouldn't have felt the motivation to do so but I feel I need to vent this particular frustration of mine into a public forum. Voting.

My first memory of actual voting was MTV's "Rock the Vote," a public debauchery that encouraged our nations youth to "just get out there and vote." At the time I didn't find this distasteful, but then again back then I wore jeans about four sizes too big for me sliced up the seams and frayed up to my calves. I also dyed my hair orange and red with kool-aide and threw myself into mosh-pits. Good times. Looking back on that experience though, for the life of me, I can't remember one time when MTV encouraged our youth to familiarize themselves with any other topic except for the environment. Not once did they say "Just get out there, educate yourselves in basic economics (don't worry, math only hurts the first time you use it) learn a little history, at least make sure you can find Europe on a map (you'll need a world map), and then go Rock that Vote!" Instead, what was at the time one of the greatest youth icons of the time let loose an army of the ignorant upon the American political system. At least Pearl Jam had the decency to decline participation on account of unbiased voting suggestions.

Why is that we encourage people to vote? Shouldn't the preservation of their liberty and the continuance of prosperity be enough to motivate people to submit their opinion about who should lead us? Do we really want people to "just vote?"

In my opinion, if man or woman is not inspired enough by the fact that they have the opportunity to contribute to the political process and to protect their interests by voting then they do not deserve our, or our governments, attention. These voting drives I see, geographically selected to isolate and target certain demographics, sicken me. If a citizen in the 1700's and 1800's could face musket and canon fire, and if those African Americans of the 1960's could face lynch mob's in order to participate in self governance, then a modern citizen should be expected to overcome his or her own apathy in order to educate themselves and get out there and not only vote, but to do so intelligently.

So, the next time someone knocks on your door to ask you if you would like to register to vote, if you don't feel you can do your country the service of detaining him/her until after November, at least inform them in the rudest possible manner about what they are doing to this nation. Rock that MTV.