Why You Should Vote

This has been an ugly election season. It feels as if it has been going on forever. The amount of money spent on just the Presidential campaign could have provided permanent, accessible, integrated housing for countless people in nursing facilities for people on waiting lists or people on waiting lists to get on waiting lists. Then there are the Senate and Congressional campaigns. And state campaigns. A lot of money has been wasted.

Now with social media being as integrated into our lives as it has become, we are not only crushed with TV ads, mailings and robocalls, but we get to read about it on Facebook and Twitter. (Full Confession: If you are a Facebook friend or Twitter follower of me, you know that I’m one of those people)

A lot of people are turned off by politics and the electoral process. They see the game as being rigged. I can pick out people on the street and almost every one will have a story about a different politician and corruption and/or incompetence; though I wouldn’t say they are all 100 percent accurate.

So what is the purpose of this blog post? To convince you to give up? To not show up on Election Day? Nope. Way too many of you are going to do that anyway, you don’t need MY help. Our country has a pathetic showing on Election Day; definitely in the quantity of voters. The quality of voters? Well, that’s for another blog post.

There’s a nice list of reasons why you should vote courtesy of NonprofitVote.org. They make some nice points. I’m going to give you one reason why you should vote on Tuesday.

Your life depends on it. [quote Justin Dart]

You are reading this post because you have an interest in disability rights, but you don’t have to be worried about Medicaid or be a single-payer healthcare advocate. Your life depends on what happens on Tuesday. Hurricane Sandy is a perfect example. The effects of climate change are hitting everyone, but like many things, it is hitting people with disabilities the hardest. People in New York City are on ventilators, living in their own homes (the way it should be) but are in danger of dying because there is no electricity to run the machines that keep them alive.

As fellow beings on earth, what affects one effects all. That’s not a spiritualistic notion, it is just a fact. What happens in Rochester, NY has an effect on our brothers and sisters in Philadelphia, PA, Austin, TX and in Los Angeles, CA. Sounds complicated, doesn’t it? It get’s worse.

After November 6th, our job is not over.

Whoever wins those elections must be watched and held accountable. We have to watch a little less TV, play video games a little bit less, be mindless consumers a little less and we have to be advocates a lot more. We have to reach out to our neighbors and encourage them to get involved. We have to call, write, e-mail and visit our elected officials, even if it’s just to let them know we are paying attention. And then next year…there are more elections. They happen every year. But first thing is first.

You still have time. Do your homework on the candidates – ALL the candidates. Do not just check out the ones from your favorite political party. For the Presidential race, I have been recommending folks check out ISideWith.com I have actually talked to one of the creators of that site and I like what they have done. It is a very useful tool.

Then get out and vote as if your life depends on it.

Because it does.