The Voter's Voice
I was visiting a workplace last week, where I was having a little chat with the receptionist. Her lunch break was about to start and so the young man who spells her off arrived, and plunked down in the chair. "Are you going to vote?", asked she. "Nope", says he. "I'm not interested in politics. I never vote."
First of all I thought, god, what a stupid attitude. If this silly, shallow individual were to find himself suddenly in the midst of the mayhem and unrest in a country the likes of Iraq, his attitude toward the privilege of casting a vote might very well change, but what a shame that such circumstances should be needed to jolt him out of his complacency.
Secondly, I thought, what a difference from someone like him to someone like Amal Chaaban, a reporter with the Al Watan monthly, in Alberta. She has entirely the right approach to the election. In a recent interview she conducted with Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan, she asked questions that drew McLellan out on issues such as National Sovereignty and Canada's presence in the North. Referring to George W. Bush's admission of wiretapping without court orders, she asked McLellan to address the issue of personal privacy, and even got her around to the epithet hurling that has been going on in the House of Commons. Chaaban ended her reporting on the interview with McLellan by exhorting Canadian voters to make themselves aware of what the party platforms are, so that they can make an informed decision, and then "go out and make your voice heard."
It might be good for that uninvolved young man if he could sit down for a chat with Chaaban. The minute the election is over is the first minute the country will begin to live with the decision made on that day. If the results of the decision are not to the liking of that young man and so many others like him, that is when they'll begin their bitching about the government. Why do they wait until it's too late to raise their voices? The rest of us who get ourselves out to the polls don't want to hear them then. If they don't raise their electoral voice on the 23rd, they should damn well shut up afterward. As Chaaban says, "The voter's voice is truly the only voice that counts in this or any election."
Make your voice heard on January 23rd. Go and vote.
First of all I thought, god, what a stupid attitude. If this silly, shallow individual were to find himself suddenly in the midst of the mayhem and unrest in a country the likes of Iraq, his attitude toward the privilege of casting a vote might very well change, but what a shame that such circumstances should be needed to jolt him out of his complacency.
Secondly, I thought, what a difference from someone like him to someone like Amal Chaaban, a reporter with the Al Watan monthly, in Alberta. She has entirely the right approach to the election. In a recent interview she conducted with Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan, she asked questions that drew McLellan out on issues such as National Sovereignty and Canada's presence in the North. Referring to George W. Bush's admission of wiretapping without court orders, she asked McLellan to address the issue of personal privacy, and even got her around to the epithet hurling that has been going on in the House of Commons. Chaaban ended her reporting on the interview with McLellan by exhorting Canadian voters to make themselves aware of what the party platforms are, so that they can make an informed decision, and then "go out and make your voice heard."
It might be good for that uninvolved young man if he could sit down for a chat with Chaaban. The minute the election is over is the first minute the country will begin to live with the decision made on that day. If the results of the decision are not to the liking of that young man and so many others like him, that is when they'll begin their bitching about the government. Why do they wait until it's too late to raise their voices? The rest of us who get ourselves out to the polls don't want to hear them then. If they don't raise their electoral voice on the 23rd, they should damn well shut up afterward. As Chaaban says, "The voter's voice is truly the only voice that counts in this or any election."
Make your voice heard on January 23rd. Go and vote.
4 Comments:
I didn't vote in the last presidential election (US). Is the voice in the polls really the only one that counts? Come on. A terrorist raises his voice and stuff happens. Or another geopolitical unit acts contrary to the powers that be and suddenly its mayhew all over the globe. Remember it was the democratic process that brought Hitler to power and no voting in Canada could have stopped his impact. Frankly I don't really trust any person in the political process. The manipulation, power plays, etc. are very corrupting. The lesser of two evils is not an attractive option.
As societies grow decadent, the language grows decadent, too. Words are used to disguise, not to illuminate, action: you liberate a city by destroying it.
Words are to confuse, so that at election time people will solemnly vote against their own interests.
Gore Vidal
I have no idea what Tom is trying to say. Regardless, voting is the right thing to do. Not taking an active part in the electoral process renders one of the few voices that citizens have, silent. I'd rather not have a revolution. I'd rather there be incremental changes. Either way.
Anyway, to not vote because you figure you're just smarter than the rest is just dumb. Anyway you look at it. If you don't vote, and assume that only dumb people do, then the dumb people will vote and hand the government over to best liar of the bunch. Anyway you look at it, not voting is dumb.
Thank you so much for your comments on my article. I can tell you that her press secretary did tell me he didn't expect any of the questions I asked. I have a whole tapeful but I thought those were the most pertinent.
I voted today by special ballot. As a Canadian, nothing is more important to me than making my voice heard. As a person whose family immigrated from Lebanon in 1977 in the midst of an ugly civil war, I know how precious a vote is. Thank you for exhorting people to vote.
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