Student Voting and Making Choices

Posted 2012-10-11 20:22:16

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October 11, 2012 - Press Release to College Newspapers ~ Four years ago, students enrolled in the colleges and universities of the United States were motivated to play a major role in electing the President.  This year, many are disenchanted.  With almost 20 million enrolled in post-secondary education, young educated voters are the most potent political force in America.  In this election, they have several choices: they can vote for a candidate they believe is harmless; they can cast a vote against a candidate they fear, they can skip the whole process, or they can demonstrate the power of their intellect by casting a vote of conscience. It is estimated that more than $6 billion will be spent in the 2012 election, much of it on negative, and often false advertising designed to make voters fear one major candidate and vote for the other, even if the default candidate isn't much better. This may very well be the most expensive and consequently the nastiest election in history.  That and the fact that neither major candidate is addressing the major concerns of most voters, particularly young people, makes it no surprise that many students plan to ignore or boycott the 2012 election. There is another choice, one that will demonstrate the maturity and social commitment of the millennial generation.  Young voters can make the conscious decision to refuse to cast a fear vote and to instead cast a vote of conscience, even if that choice is not for a candidate who has any chance of winning. Voters can take a careful look at the third-party candidates of the Green and Libertarian parties and see if these alternatives to the Democratic and Republican parties are more in tune with the reality of existence in the United States.  Both of these parties oppose the endless War on Terrorism and the senseless War on Drugs.  Failing to find that she or he can vote in good conscience for either of these two candidates, today's young voters have yet another choice. Rather than boycotting the election, voters can take a moment in the voting booth and carefully write in the name of the person they most trust to administer the government of the United States, whether or not that name is on the ballot and whether or not the vote will be counted. A secret vote of conscience can and will internalize every voter's own sense of empowerment and collectively, a massive vote of conscience can and will demonstrate the power of informed self governance to the world. Irrespective of who is in office, both major political parties are controlled by a powerful elite oligarchy, which believes it can buy votes through advertising.  A massive vote of conscience would galvanize political involvement by all voters and would prove that the People have the power and ability to think for themselves. A massive vote of conscience would transform the United States government into a responsive force that will have the vision and direction to deal with the economic, environmental and social problems that threaten to end all human existence within the lifetime of those who, for the first time, can vote in the 2012 election. Vote wisely on November 6, 2012.  Your life depends on it.

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~Wm