that is discuss anything political..........
never mind express my open honest opinion of the political machine........
BUT .. driving home today from work i listened to a radio personality go on about our right to vote.. about informing ourselves.. and about a 27 year old who had never ever voted....... and how wrong that was....... According to him it is an obligation to vote.
"Obligation - something one must do because of a law, an agreement or a promise."
Now as far as i know .. there is no law that says everyone MUST vote.. nor is there any agreement between anyone that everyone MUST vote.. nor is there any promise that everyone MUST vote.
So i think he was wrong.
i was educated in the right to vote by my grandmother first and my father second. It was my grandmother who made the biggest impact on my desire to vote.. or my right to vote.
As i approached the age of majority - and the right to vote for the first time - my grandmother started her history lesson about the Women's Suffragette movement. She was a member of the Women's Suffragette movement - or had been. She believed in women's rights..... and she was gonna make damn sure i believed in them.. protected them.. and lived for them.My father made sure i understood that i had a right to vote.. the right to chose someone to speak for me in government. He was a Liberal - but never ..... not once .. did he try to influence my vote. To him it was important that i learn what i believed in, what i wanted, and the future i envisioned and to vote accordingly.
i have voted in every single election since that first one when i was 18. Trust me when i say that is one helluva lot of votes.
But something has happened to me down that long road of voting......... i have become disillusioned with the process.. with the parties.. with the absolute corruption of power. Because that is what i believe happens.. even the most well meaning candidate seems to be corrupted by the power of governing.
i am tired of the name calling .. the mud throwing.. the hit below the belt campaigning.
There doesn't seem to be a party that i believe in anymore....... there doesn't seem to be a party that stands by it's word..... there doesn't seem to be anyone who comes close to believing in the future i see.. in the needs that need fixing.. in the absolute necessity of listening to the people and governing FOR the people.
Did those women almost 100 years ago feel this way too?? did they ever give up hope on the political machine?? i can't help but wonder what my grandmother .. and father.. would say about the political machine today.... and i am sorry too that other than those first words of encouragement to get out and vote.. that i never picked their brains more about the disillusionment that comes from the reality of politics.
i wondered as i drove home .. listening to this radio announcer scold this 27 year old woman for not voting........ what would happen if no one.. absolutely no one voted in this election???????
What if they called an election and no one came??????????
You know Littleone, my Grandmother, very much like yours, was HIGHLY influential in my learning about Women's rights, the suffragette movement and our right to vote.
ReplyDeleteMy Dad never has tried to influence my vote, or what I believe in either.
I find it appalling that the woman was being chastised for NOT voting.
It's not something I have ever done, but since when did voting become a "must"?
For me, it's not a choice ... I vote.
But, not everyone WANTS to have that choice, and they should be able to do so.
*sigh*
What if everyone wanted to vote and no one called an election?
ReplyDeleteThat man on the radio could have been talking about me. I didn't register until after we moved here almost a year ago.
ReplyDeleteI just turned 28.
I still don't have much faith in the system. I've seen too much myself. But I'll be voting, if nothing else because there's a chance my voice will be heard.
Women were jailed, tortured, beaten and put in mental wards because they so valued, and fought for, the privelege of voting. Just 88 years ago in America. I believe voting is a moral obligation. It is a privelege that if not used will perish. But go ahead and not vote, no one is forcing you to. Participate in democracy, or don't bitch about the results.
ReplyDeletePeople, I have never met, fought to make sure I had the RIGHT to vote. I certainly have the right to not vote, But in this day and age, with all of the issues swirling around our world, I feel I must vote. My individual
ReplyDeletevote will not account for much by itself... But when a people stand together for CHANGE, we can be a mighty wind.
T
Thanks for remembering the suffragettes.
ReplyDeleteThanks to the suffragettes, women have voices and choices!
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Yes, you are right on both counts. Yes, your grandmother and as most grandmothers, fought for the right to vote. Yes, after many years, you can be come be come critical, of this wonderful freedom. Look what we have brought upon ourselves here in the good old U.S.A. If ever a woman needed a good spanking it would be Sarah Palin. Yes, this naughty woman needs to have her bloomers taken down, and given a good walloping on her bare bottom. And you possibly would agree on that. Please let me know?
ReplyDeletesixofthebest....
ReplyDeleteMy good lord.. you do read back in the files don't you??!! I almost missed this comment.
As for Sarah Palin.. I have a very firm policy of not discussing current politics or politicians EVER.
I tend to ignore people who annoy me.. politicians and normal folks as well.. that way I don't get my blood pressure up :)