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Do not complain if you do not vote

By Staff | Mar 25, 2015

To the editor:

The 2016 election is fast approaching and is already proving to be an inflammatory process. Both sides have a lot at stake and want to win the White House in 2016 but apparently have forgotten the American people and that we and the world are watching. What matters to the candidates is that they win. First, by gaining the support of their party and subsequently the support of the American people. So what, if they spend millions upon millions of dollars to get elected. We can’t even get our roads paved, our streets lit or a school built. People are still hurting, many are still without jobs, many are still homeless and many still have loved ones serving abroad.

If the last several years of political maneuvering and posturing demonstrated by our elected officials are any indication of what we can expect from our government leaders in the future, then maybe we should all stay home on Election Day! Politicians must clean up their act! What matters to the American people is their own daily lives. How Americans live their daily lives is very much influenced and affected by those elected officials and the decisions they do or do not make. However their decisions seem to be based upon their own personal agendas instead of the interests and needs of the American people.

As Americans, our individual needs will and do vary, but our common and non-partisan interests have been mostly neglected or ignored by our elected officials who insist on outdoing or destroying one another politically. For the most part, many that venture into politics do so with the best of intentions. They feel that they can make a difference but soon find that they must often compromise or bargain for everything. Campaigning one way or another on important issues may get a candidate elected, but not following through or fighting for those issues once elected should lead to the ousting of that candidate in the next cycle. How they perform and represent us must also be considered. So then, we weigh our choices, make our decisions and try again. Change is good but it doesn’t come easy or cheap.

Do we vote to make the life of the candidate better or that of our own? Do they then take office to represent us or themselves? For whose sake do we vote if not our own? Do you believe that only the rich have the right to be happy and prosper? Do you believe that big corporations, millionaires and billionaires, (only 1 percent of the population), should run the United States? Do you believe that your children and grandchildren should inherit a better and safer country and world? Do you work hard each day just to see your dreams of success and happiness disappear? Do you deserve respect from those in authority? Do you believe that you should be safe in your own community? Do you believe that you could be sending your children, grandchildren or loved ones off to fight in the next conflict or world war? Do you believe that all lives matter? If you do then vote!

We do make a difference by voting. Each election cycle presents a new opportunity for change whether we want it or not. Although some of us dread the tedious election process to come, the 2016 election has apparently already begun in earnest. As Americans, we should embrace and welcome this challenging and stimulating process despite all the negativity and mudslinging. The 2016 election presumably will exceed any of our expectations to be brutal and probably will not disappoint. As American citizens, we must endure and exercise the right and the privilege that many have fought and died for, no matter which side of the aisle you lean towards.

Don’t complain if you don’t vote!

Carol Edwards

Lehigh Acres