In the 90s, MTV used to play music videos…They also used to talk about voting.
A new generation of “kids” who may or may not have remembered Watergate or the gas crisis were coming of age. MTV, which was a mainstay in many homes, carried a lot of weight back then, and they used that influence, and that of celebrities, to inspire young people to vote.
Whether they were supposed to vote for change, vote for more of the same, it wasn’t overtly stated, but simply the action of voting was what they were pushing for.
This election is one for the record books. True, muckraking is as old as humanity. I have this vision of cavemen spreading lies about each other to win chieftain of the tribe, but I digress. I watched an interview with Ken Burns last year that talks about how dirty politics have always been the way, and that is likely true. I guess it’s just the way it’s presented these days.
Between the 24 hr news cycle, social media, and the fact that we’re perpetually “plugged in,” we’re bombarded with the best, the worst, and the ugliest of humanity. It can lead to a lot of disillusionment and misanthropy. I’m the first one to admit that I’m not looking forward to next Tuesday, but it’s important to cast a vote; democracy in action, and all that.
Look, it’s not my place to tell you who to vote for. If you meet the requirements, then exercise your right to vote, because it is a right. So if you don’t show up at the designated school, church, community center, wherever next Tuesday, then you can’t complain or cheer next Wednesday, because you didn’t go out and cast your vote. And if you DID try and someone stopped you, then report it immediately.