You Gotta Vote

That's right, non-voters. I'm the boss of you

By Kelvin Wade

October 28, 2010

Hey, you! Yeah, I'm talking about you, the one who isn't planning on voting next week. I just have a few things I'd like for you to consider for a moment.

What if you were next in line at a fast food counter and I came in, brushed past you and ordered some food? Then, before you could say a word, I snatched your purse or wallet and counted out the money for my meal, took my bag of food and bounced out. What would you think about a scenario like that? How about another?

Picture yourself standing in line at the DMV. If the clerks were moving any slower they'd be going in reverse. You're hot, annoyed and your feet hurt. You make it up to the window to pay your registration and the woman behind the counter points over your shoulder. You turn to see what she's pointing at and it's me sitting in a chair by the wall. I lift a finger skyward and then the clerk tells you that you have to pay more for your registration.

One more. Let's say you like your child's teacher and you're having a parent-teacher conference. There's a knock at the door. It's me. I come in with a younger, less experienced teacher and swap teachers. You ask me why I'm doing it and I just give you the 'Talk to the hand' sign and increase your child's class by another five students and leave. Would that be okay with you?

When you don't vote, you let me make the decisions for you. I'll decide how much of your money you get to keep and what you'll spend it on. I'll decide whether you pay more for services. I'll decide how much or how little we spend on your children's education. You may not like it. You may fret and shake your fist but that's what happens when you give your power to me.

Why vote, you say? There's not a dime's worth of difference between the parties. I get it. We're used to drinking deep from the well of cynicism with good reason.

After all, if Al Gore had been president from 2001-2009, we would've still had those huge tax cuts and invaded Iraq. Gore would've installed industry lackeys overseeing FEMA, oil and coal companies just like George W. Bush because Gore wasn't concerned with the environment. And, of course, Gore would've nominated John Roberts and Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. Right?

Some say it's too hard to vote. How do they expect people to find time in the 13 measly hours between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m.? Sure, anyone can become a permanent absentee voter but then they'd have to come up with stamps.

I know you can't shame shameless people into voting. You can't talk to most folks about the Fifteenth Amendment when they think there are only two amendments to the Constitution. If you mention Susan B. Anthony, if you're lucky, people might remember the name was connected with an unpopular dollar coin. If you talk about Schwerner, Goodman and Chaney, most of these folks will think you're talking about a law firm.

So talking about the sacrifices many Americans made so we'd have this right isn't going to work.

But I really can't believe how anyone can sit back and let their neighbor reach into their wallets and decide how to spend their money for them. Twice a year, we get to program the GPS of government. You're really going to leave that in your neighbor's hands? Peace.

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ADDITIONAL NOTES: You gotta vote. I don't see how you don't vote. I mean, how can you let other people make decisions that are going to directly affect your wallet. These are decisions that will affect your life in so many ways so how could you possibly pass up the opportunity to let your voice be heard.

I passed over it in the column but so many people died for this right. When you go back and read about the Fifteenth Amendment and after the Civil War and blacks trying to vote....and then you read about Susan B. Anthony, Sojourner Truth, Harriett Tubman and others in the suffrage movement, you'll find stories you never knew existed. Strong women who were standing up when it wasn't safe for women to be standing up and speaking out. Then you have poll taxes and literacy tests and other means used to suppress the vote and disenfranchise people. It's been a struggle. People have been murdered.

I don't even care if people don't know what they're doing. In a perfect world everyone would be well versed in the candidates and issues and make informed decisions but that' s not this planet.

Right now the Supreme Court has ruled that corporations can pour unlimited amounts of money into our campaigns. So to counteract that outrage, I want as many random voters as possible. We need people who are going to walk in the booth and just guess. The more the merrier.

Your government wants to hear from you. And how you arrive at your position is your business. . This is your opportunity to say, "I object!" It's your chance to say, "Oh hell no!" Or you can say, "Yes!!!!" to something you believe in. Don't just talk about it. People love to talk about what they're gonna do. Do it. Get up and do it.

Or else just sit back, shut up and I'll call the shots.