Hey guys! Today I just wanted to
talk to you all about a very important topic. As many of you may know, I live in
the wonderful Caribbean islands of Trinidad and Tobago and it is an important day
because today is Election Day!
I was thinking; Why Should I Vote?
I'm only eighteen anyway, I don't have to vote... And many other thoughts
that just kept me relaxed, my views to myself and my mouth shut.
Over
the past few months, maybe even years I was very certain that when I am able to
vote, I would not! At the time my reasons seemed as though they were ‘on point’
because it made sense to me. Anyone who asked, I told them that I am not going
to vote because there will be corruption in the government no matter who is in
charge, that the government would always be flawed!
Over the past few days, I have been observing everyone’s views from their very opinionated Facebook statuses and the way in which they speak, I’ve listened to the speeches of the different parties, not just one and I observed the way in which they promoted themselves and logically evaluated what would be the most beneficial choice for my own future then I started to think of the future of our country. We have to put all peer pressure and influences aside and sit and observe. When I observe something to make a decision, I never start leaning in one direction because we can be consciously or unconsciously biased in one direction or the other. I believe that this is one of the reasons that I always help my friends and others through many things they go through and through arguments, because we must learn to be able to see from every possible perspective presented or swept under the carpet. I grew up with family and others telling me that I am wise above my years and I believe that this stemmed from simply developing an open frame of mind and reasoning.
Over the past few days, I have been observing everyone’s views from their very opinionated Facebook statuses and the way in which they speak, I’ve listened to the speeches of the different parties, not just one and I observed the way in which they promoted themselves and logically evaluated what would be the most beneficial choice for my own future then I started to think of the future of our country. We have to put all peer pressure and influences aside and sit and observe. When I observe something to make a decision, I never start leaning in one direction because we can be consciously or unconsciously biased in one direction or the other. I believe that this is one of the reasons that I always help my friends and others through many things they go through and through arguments, because we must learn to be able to see from every possible perspective presented or swept under the carpet. I grew up with family and others telling me that I am wise above my years and I believe that this stemmed from simply developing an open frame of mind and reasoning.
I then
realized, after listening to these different rallies and speeches and observing
the way they each interact, that I began to be moved toward the direction that
I see would do more for us, for the betterment of our country and each citizen
in it.
I then sat down and thought to
myself about the things that previously influenced my decision. And it’s only
now that I actually answered my own questions... I realized that yes, no one is
perfect therefore there may be flaws no matter what. If we are hungry and are presented
with three apples and are told to choose one, of these apples, one has a hole
in it and another as a scratch and a hole, while the other has a scratch.
Automatically, we would examine these apples and choose which one looks best to
us i.e. the one with the least flaws and we would eventually see that choosing
the apple with only the scratch is best because although it is flawed, of all
the choices presented to you this had the most goodness within it. Therefore,
at the end of the day, we would always want what’s best and we, as citizens of
Trinidad and Tobago and you as a citizen of your country have the right to vote
for who you think would do the best at leading and ensuring that the future of
our country is secured and moving forward.
I realized that I have a right to vote and I am very lucky to have this right that our ancestors fought for and died fighting to obtain. We need to realize that our opinion matter and actually contributes towards such an important decision in our country and we should not let the efforts of others that was shed just for us to come this far and have these privileges be in vain, we must practice our right. Even if we don’t want to go campaigning and debating, then you don’t have to, you can be bold and proud of your decision or you can vote in your privacy. Don’t be bought by bribery or peer pressure or based on what you hear. Do your research, you can pray about it if you need to, figure out what your views are and let’s do this together for the betterment of our lives and the lives of our loved ones.
I realized that I have a right to vote and I am very lucky to have this right that our ancestors fought for and died fighting to obtain. We need to realize that our opinion matter and actually contributes towards such an important decision in our country and we should not let the efforts of others that was shed just for us to come this far and have these privileges be in vain, we must practice our right. Even if we don’t want to go campaigning and debating, then you don’t have to, you can be bold and proud of your decision or you can vote in your privacy. Don’t be bought by bribery or peer pressure or based on what you hear. Do your research, you can pray about it if you need to, figure out what your views are and let’s do this together for the betterment of our lives and the lives of our loved ones.
