coeurdastronaute:

To all my American readers,

I implore you. Vote.

Every election matters, and each one from now on, the stakes are always higher. We face a future on the cusp of major questions of personal privacy, globalization, climate change, shrinking natural resources, job scarcity, war, personal and collective freedoms, the rights of minority groups, reproductive rights, and healthcare. We always stand on this edge, and it matters every time.

I know there is the argument to be made that votes don’t matter. But they do. Not just for president. Know who you are electing down ticket as well. Take 15 minutes and educate yourself on your choices for representatives and senators. They will conform Supreme Court nominees and pass laws. They are important.

As I get older, I can see how mindsets change. Not on purpose and not maliciously. But you get older. You work 50+ hours a week and drink the rest away. You scroll through Twitter and grab sound bites. But the real, truest, most genuine parts of political conversation happen with the youngest voters. It will happen to you one day when you won’t know why the kids are yelling. You have a mortgage and soccer practice to get to and dinner to defrost and a uniform to iron and brownies to bake for the bake sale. So be gentle to those who may not be educated and be kind when you educate. Give people the benefit of evolving and they will because you give them that moment to understand. A good rule of thumb is: the first thought you have is what you were conditioned to think, the next is what makes your character.

You catch more flies with honey.

The point is, vote. Vote because in the next for years, threats will become more real. In the next four years we can try to reform gun laws and stop our own from being gunned down or beaten to death for being themselves. Remember sandy hook. Remember Orlando. Vote because women deserve justice for their bodies and the freedom to decide their own future. Vote because the educational system failed you or because it didn’t, and you may not know it yet but you are in the minority. Vote because the threats to our security are very real but should not dictate the willingness to love in our hearts. Vote because the planet is tired of being abused and we need to do more. Because Leo said so. Vote because companies should not spend less on taxes than yourself. Vote because citizens are being hunted, attacked, and shot on film for all to see and receiving no justice because the murderers wear badges. Vote because we have not come far from those black and white images of fire hoses being turned on protestors demanding equality in their own home. Vote because you can lose your job because of who you kiss goodnight. Vote because soldiers return home and lose to their own demons without any assistance after offering their mind, bodies, and souls for their missions. Vote because we have an army that is larger than the 9 next armies put together, all of which are allies. Vote because as a nation we talk about enemies more than we used to. Vote because technologies are changing rapidly and government oversight is largely unchecked. Vote because our generations and those to follow will spend their entire lives burdened with the debt of an education. Vote because the gap between upper and lower is sickeningly high. Vote because prisons are ways to make money and have created a system of modern slavery on our own country. Vote because you will be paid differently for the same job based on you skin color or gender. Vote because drug laws are ineffective and the war on drugs is coded language for the war on minorities. Vote because all of these issues will be relevant in the next four years and I can promise you that because they were relevant in the last four. And the four before that.

Vote because your goddamn tired of the difference between the American reality and the unattainable American dream.

Vote and change minds and educate and be kind.

It matters who you vote for, and I’m with her, and I will be voting on November 8th.

Eloquently put.  

America – please don’t make the mistakes we did.  VOTE.