{"id":841,"date":"2012-10-18T22:05:16","date_gmt":"2012-10-19T05:05:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.riley.rackliffe.org\/?p=841"},"modified":"2012-10-18T22:05:16","modified_gmt":"2012-10-19T05:05:16","slug":"why-i-vote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.riley.rackliffe.org\/?p=841","title":{"rendered":"Why I Vote"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are lots of reasons people give for voting. Civic duty, make a mark, bring down a tyrant and whatever. But after watching the upcoming election for, well, four years, it\u2019s so very easy to convince myself that the naysayers are right. First off, it will be illegal and dishonest for me to vote as anything other than a Utahan. So already my vote is just one among millions the most heavily biased state in the country. Oh, I also happen to live in one of the most conservative counties and cities in that state. Oops. So with 75% of the vote going in one direction does my vote count for anything? Does my 1\/12 of a teaspoon of honey do anything? Plus, I\u2019m not convinced either party or candidate will or can solve our problems. The republicans will destroy the environment and screw over our grandchildren while the democrats with destroy the economy and screw over our children. Neither side can take the harsh painful measures required to put us back in a sustainable system. So why do I keep voting when my ballots is lost in a sea of similarly minded people and chaos is ensured regardless of who the victor is?<\/p>\n

Did I mention that I\u2019m surrounded by out-of-state people who claim to care but consistently forget to register absentee while refusing to vote locally because \u201cmy vote wouldn\u2019t count in Utah.\u201d You not voting counts for even less. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

So, why do I vote? Why did I go to caucuses this year? Why did I go to the town hall meeting my senator held a few months back?<\/p>\n

Let me tell you. I am an Ecologist. Ecology is about studying the interactions between organisms. It\u2019s like sociology for all living things. From an ecological perspective it\u2019s clear that interactions are good. If a species were left in isolation very few could persist. We rely on the processes around us to survive and thrive. Not only does each species rely on those around it but each species also provides something that the others need. <\/p>\n

When I vote it\u2019s like me saying \u201cI live here. I am a member of this community. I care what happens here and I\u2019m willing to prove it by walking a block to the elementary school to vote.\u201d I don\u2019t just vote for a distant president but for a representative in congress, a city mayor, a county major, a bond to build a new recreation center, and so forth. I vote because I care where my taxes go. I vote because I care how your children are raised. I vote because it is the power behind the flag I hang from my window. I vote because I like living in a nice neighborhood, with clean streets and frequent reliable garbage service. I vote because I care about you. I vote because I want there to be a world for my children to live in, where they can live with as much or more happiness than I have enjoyed. <\/p>\n

I don\u2019t vote to prove that abstract macroeconomic systems work or don\u2019t work. I don\u2019t vote because I like going to war with nations who have something we need. I don\u2019t vote because I like or dislike the way this minority or that is being treated. I\u2019m not all that sure my vote counts for those things. <\/p>\n

What my vote does count for is committing me to a place. When I vote as a resident of Provo, Utah I am asserting that I belong to Provo, Utah. This is my home. I claim it. I may only be here for two more years, you may be here for even less. But when you vote you become a part of this community. You are no longer a visitor just surviving until you can go home. These trees become your trees. These parks become your parks. The reputation becomes your reputation. Suddenly you are responsible. Wherever you go in the world people may ask you about Provo, will you be proud of a place you have made home or embarrassed about a place where you refused to unpack your suitcase?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I vote because it anchors me to a place and makes me part of a community. I grew up in a community that loved me and cherished me. They proved it by interacting with each other, by hosting community events, planning parades, neighborhood cleanups, and being there to lean on when needed. Should I sacrifice community because I\u2019m a transient college student? No. I can choose to survive these years in Provo or I can sink in roots and thrive. I can let this community nourish me and I can give back to them. We will both grow from the experience. <\/p>\n

So go and vote. Prove that you are home. That you belong here. For Utah, the last-minute deadline to vote in this election is Oct 22nd. Tuesday<\/a>. You still have time. <\/p>\n

This is why I vote, why will you vote?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are lots of reasons people give for voting. Civic duty, make a mark, bring down a tyrant and whatever. But after watching the upcoming election for, well, four years, it\u2019s so very easy to convince myself that the naysayers are right. First off, it will be illegal and dishonest for me to vote as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2xIrS-dz","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.riley.rackliffe.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.riley.rackliffe.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.riley.rackliffe.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.riley.rackliffe.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.riley.rackliffe.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=841"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/blog.riley.rackliffe.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":845,"href":"http:\/\/blog.riley.rackliffe.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841\/revisions\/845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.riley.rackliffe.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=841"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.riley.rackliffe.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=841"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.riley.rackliffe.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}