Why I vote

This post was originally published on Instagram.

Why should we care to vote? As we go through our daily lives, it's difficult to see how voting impacts it. When you are in college, you are more concerned about your next break, scoring dates, paying for school, passing tests, or getting internships. When you are unemployed, your immediate concerns are to find the next job. And it's hard to care about anything else but health when you are sick and in pain. We all have jobs, families, bills, commitments, hobbies, and a million other things to take care of.

It’s easy to overlook the importance of voting.

But when we stop, look around, and think, to our surprise we learn — everything we take for granted comes from people uniting around ideas, igniting a political change. Policies impact the economy which influences your job prospects, financial stability, and retirement. How you vote directly impacts how much taxes you’ll pay, when your trash will be collected, how Covid response will be handled,  and how your city will deal with homelessness.

Some view politics as a dirty business — "They are all the same. They all corrupt.” If you, I, and others vote, we can recruit and elect better people. Just look at how many bright people were elected in congress in 2018 — smart, young, diverse, and motivated. Sure, I’m hinting at AOC and her crew.

Others say their vote doesn’t matter - “I live in CA/MA/VT …..” But do you know that this year's census will be used to divide your state into new congressional districts? How much of your state taxes will be spent on schools, roads...? Prop 22 in CA will guide the rest of the country on how we will treat gig-workers or contractors. Uber, Lyft, and Dashdoor spent ~$140M on this campaign.
Your vote matters, even in solid-red and solid-blue states. To stay in power minority dIscourages people from voting. It works. But don’t be shocked to wake up, suddenly, with barbaric laws from the previous century. For instance, Poland tries to ban ALL abortions. Our newly appointed Supreme Court Judge (Amy Handmaid) can’t wait to tell other women what to do with their bodies.

Finally, let’s think about how many people around the world are fighting for their right to be heard. In some places, they risk their lives. Belarus is a recent example. But there are hundreds of others.

There are many great reasons to vote, can’t list them all. And there isn’t a single good reason not to vote.

P.S. It’s too late to mail your ballot. Go and drop it off directly. If you will vote in person on Tue Nov 3rd, be prepared to wait a long time.

P.S.S. Thanks to my friends in Ukraine who voted in recent local elections. You are the future.

P.S.S.S. Жыве Беларусь! 🤍❤️🤍
Myk 10/29/2020