If you are undecided or not voting seems like the best solution because "everyone is the same" read this. We give you a few reasons to reconsider. [caption id="attachment_11190" align="alignnone" width="1024"]
Voting is necessary for you and those around you.[/caption] We know that many of you are studying for your
eTitle, but it takes no time to go and vote and it can serve as a break between subjects.
What is the use of abstaining from voting?
Let's think about it. Throughout the history of democracy, absenteeism has always been present to a greater or lesser extent. Has it brought any improvement in people's lives? No. Has it achieved social changes? No. Has it overthrown corrupt governments? Neither. So... what is the use of abstaining? For sociologists and political scientists to take note of the population's apathy. Perhaps at another historical or social moment, we could think that anyone who does not vote is because they do not agree with the system, because they do not want a democracy or because the existing one does not satisfy them, but, the truth is that, nowadays, things do not usually go that way. Among the millions of people who do not go to the polls, there are not only people with defined and anti-democratic ideals (in fact, they are the minority), but unfortunately, what prevails is laziness, lack of education or lack of social awareness, democratic culture, or solidarity. Abstentionism does not solve problems, it simply moves away and looks the other way while others try to deal with what is at hand. What is reflected in the ballot boxes after the large number of abstentions is not that among them there is a desire to change things, but rather total discouragement. We can blame politics, corruption, and what is transmitted to us from the media. But the truth is that the blame for our indifference towards the democratic system is solely ours, and it is up to us to take stock and stop focusing only on ourselves to, once in a while, lend a hand and be part of something.
Typical excuses
Some of the most common excuses for not voting are like "I am not interested in politics", "all parties are the same" or "if politicians are not interested in me, why should I be interested in them". Well, without intending to offend, these are nothing more than excuses we make to justify social detachment, which ultimately proves to be impractical even for ourselves.
What is politics? You are politics
Thinking that politics does not interest us is thinking that politics is summed up in politicians when, in truth, everything is politics: it is the taxes we pay and how they are invested, politics is the salary we are paid, politics is the functioning of public health and education, politics are scholarships, study programs, and degrees, traffic, social assistance, and infrastructure. Politics is pollution and animal rights, public transportation, and rental assistance. Bar licenses, solidarity, public safety, criminal laws, civil rights, and the fight against gender violence are politics. Politics is the price of the shopping cart, immigration, emigration, pensions, and birth rates. Politics is culture, justice, and yes, also political parties and their maneuvering, but not being interested in politics means not being interested in anything or anyone, and that is not possible.
Imperfect democracy
Some people argue that democracy is good, but ours is flawed, so they decide not to participate, but if we don't like something, we can't expect it to change by itself until it adapts to what we want, right? There are also people who have given up and think that their vote will not change anything. This is what is called
learned helplessness and it is the worst attitude we can have towards life. Citizens of democratic countries are privileged compared to those who live under regimes where they do not have the freedom to choose. Not voting simply out of laziness or indifference is an insult to those millions of people who do not vote because they cannot.
Nothing changes from the couch
If we disagree with the system, then we must do something to change it because ignoring everything never fixed anything. In fact, the only way for abstentionism to serve something would be if we all agreed not to vote. If in an election no one goes to the polls, then it would be a true citizen protest, a big blow on the table that could not be ignored, but thinking that this will happen is more inconceivable than thinking that opening the closet in our room transports us to Narnia. Fighting for our ideas, even if this system is imperfect, at least gives us tools to express our way of feeling, something that in other countries, with other regimes, is totally impossible.
Without a good reason, complaining is pointless
Unless we have a good reason not to vote (such as having an ideology contrary to the democratic system), we lose nothing by taking our ID and running to the school in our neighborhood that we are assigned to. With the large number of people who abstain, things could change if they voted. They could turn politics around, but instead, they prefer to pass and then complain about how the world is. Every time there are elections, they represent a new opportunity to participate in the society we live in, changing something or maintaining what is (because that is the decision of each one). An opportunity for our voice to be heard, for no one to decide for us how we are going to live or take away our rights. Read the electoral programs and vote for the one that best defends your interests, and if you do not find any among the major parties, vote for the most ridiculous party you find, but vote. A society that does not move is a society that does not change, improve, or evolve. Inactive citizens who do not defend their ideals cannot aspire to anything more than what they are given, and that should never happen in a democracy, which is nothing more than the government of the people.
