Voting is a responsibility, not just a right

In every election, there are millions of Americans who could care less about exercising their Constitutional right, not to mention civic duty, to vote.
Some are simply cynical about the whole process, choosing to believe that their one vote doesn't matter a hill of beans and won’t make any difference to the way things are or the way we want things to be.
Others are too wrapped up in the melodrama of their own lives to really care about what their government is doing or not doing.
Still others refrain from voting out of protest, because their candidate(s) didn’t win or their issue(s) didn’t become law. These “sore losers” are just as dangerous as the pessimists and complacent apathetics, because they are willing to let things get worse before they can get better.
I hear it all the time on talk radio—callers complaining about the candidates they have to choose from. They say maybe we should just let the other side win and allow our country go to hell in a hand basket. Then, when everyone realizes what a mistake this was, the right person(s) will be voted into office.
The fallacy of this kind of thought is two-fold: first, that people will realize their mistakes and correct them; and second, that we will have another chance to make things right.
The more people who begin to think this way, the sooner we’ll go down in that hand basket and the harder it will be to get back up.
I understand that American politics is frustrating and downright disgusting sometimes. I realize that our system has its problems. But not voting is not the way to fix things. In fact, by not voting, we unwittingly move ourselves closer to an autocratic state where the government makes its own decisions and rules over the people. While our government has become a living, breathing monster, for all intents and purposes, it is still strapped to the gurney and not wandering about terrorizing the countryside. Our vote and the Constitution securing that vote keeps the monster bound at the wrists and ankles.
But if we stop voting, then the restraints will loosen and eventually fall off. At that point, our government will have metamorphasized from a republic to an authoritarian state capable of acting by its own will, independent of the people. When this happens, we will have lost all control, as well as any chance of getting it back.
I caution any voter out there thinking that their one, single vote does not matter; that deciding which movie to rent on Saturday night is more important than voting on Tuesday; or that a protest no-vote will send the message they want to convey: If you do this, we will all suffer the consequences one day. And the more of you there are, the more likely we will end up losing our right to vote altogether.
It’s time that people stop looking at their vote as a Constitutional right—something they can apply and use at will—and instead regard it as a responsibility. Perhaps if more people saw voting as a duty—i.e., something we have to do—then maybe fewer people would dismiss it so casually and carelessly as they do now.
We all have to do unpleasant things that we aren't fond of: I, for one, hate cleaning up after my dog. But if I want a yard I can walk and relax in without stepping in something even more unpleasant, then I will do what I have to do.
The same can be said about voting. It may be unpleasant and make us feel dirty, but if we don’t do our part to clean up the yard, then we will surely step into something more unpleasant.
Even though it seems like we are often stuck having to vote for the “lesser of two evils,” voting for the one that ranks highest of the two by our own personal standards is better than giving away an uncontested vote to the one that ranks the lowest.
To the pessimists and the cynics, I say look at the glass again and be reminded that although it looks half empty, it is also half full. In other words, take heart and search for the silver lining. Even if things do go to hell in a hand basket, that doesn't mean you have to. You can choose to live on with a smile and a smidgeon of hope.
To the complacents and apathetics out there, I say wake up from your slumber! Wake up and live in reality once in a while. You don’t really want to live in blissful ignorance, like the human crop in “The Matrix,” do you? Wouldn’t you be more empowered if you know what is really going on, rather than choosing to believe something that doesn’t exist? In other words, get off your butt and get out there before all that you really have is gone.
To the protest voters, I say a no-vote is a blown opportunity. It is a vote defaulted to your opposition, because you refused to stand up and be counted. If you do not speak, then you will not be heard.
Frankly, if you choose not to vote—whatever your reason—then you have no business complaining when the music stops and you are left standing without a chair.