You can't move an inch today without bumping into a fucking polling station or someone who will direct you towards one. Indeed, the politically minded have taken it upon themselves to spur the masses into doing their "civic duty" by voting for the next round of assholes. In the past two weeks I have been shouted at incessantly on campus, had unwelcome vote-wranglers knocking on my apartment door, and endured that stupid fucking video of Lil John et al rapping/turning-down about voting.
MAKE IT STOP.
Look, I get it. Voting is a big deal for those of you that find public policy interesting. But for the rest of us who find the whole process sordid from the get go, it really doesn't sound all that appealing. I don't mean to say that voting is unimportant. On the contrary, I think that if everyone actually took the time to consider each candidate seriously and voted based on policy and history, we might just be a better country. But therein lies the rub. American voters, for the most part it would seem, are neither educated nor patient enough to take the time to make themselves so.
This isn't exactly surprising information about a country full of people that collectively cream their pants every time the McRib shows back up on the menu. We are a nation of very little attention span. We like shiny badges that we can wear to show off to our friends. Hence the ever-obnoxious "I Voted!" sticker that proves to your peers that you can, indeed, push buttons effectively. (Or whatever people do to vote now. I haven't voted since the presidential election.) And that's the whole issue with the "VOTE RIGHT FUCKING NOW" institution. It stresses action over preparation. Rather than advocate for an informed decision, it force feeds the idea that you just need to get your ass in there and do something.
And let's not claim hyperbole here. There is a very well-funded, and growingly sinister, campaign. Just this morning, I was assaulted by this little message on my Facebook. I imagine you encountered the same.
Should you click the blue box, it takes you to a screen that shows you your nearest polling station. "More Information," however, leads you to a page with a litany of supporting organizations that looks like the guest list for the popular kids table at Silicon Valley.
And speaking of popular kids, the obnoxious aforementioned video with Lil John is the product of an organization called "Rock the Vote." A massive non-profit that has been around since 1990, Rock the Vote (RTV) has been "fusing pop culture, politics, and technology" for decades in an attempt to make voting sound just as appealing as buying a new iPhone or downloading a new Taylor Swift album. The idea is to make voting cool again for a millenial generation that dislikes doing anything that involves reading. And while I think the idea of getting kids off their asses is a great idea, I don't necessarily think dangling shiny objects and celebrity endorsements in front of their faces is the most efficient way of going about it. Sure, it gets the job done, but so would telling your kids that they get $100 for every day they get out of bed to go to school.
Incentives are nice, but when they take the place of the actual important issues, it sort of discounts the message. We shouldn't be voting because it's cool; we should be voting because it's important. Furthermore, you shouldn't just be voting. You should also be educating yourselves on the stances that each candidate takes, his/her history, and which direction you think he/she will take our state/country in. It's not easy and it's not pretty. It's actually quite boring and grey. But if you actually want to make a difference and actually want to get shit done, I suggest you start getting used to looking past the pretty bow on top of the package. It's what's inside the box that's important, anyways.
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