Why Vote?
Bureaucracy: The Essential Annoyance
There are few topics as alluring and sexy as local government. I mean, who wouldn’t want to spend their Saturday voting in a County Central Committee (CCC) meeting? And yes, I am aware your eyes are already glazing over at the mere idea of a bureaucratic endeavor. I promise I won’t bore you by giving a speech about why you need to vote. Many people who are older and wiser than me have done that far more skillfully than I could. Most likely, you already know why you should vote, but the sheer apathy for the democratic process is overwhelming. I’d be lying if I said I don’t have a typical disregard for the process. I am a nineteen-year-old female college student. I’d like to pretend that I was always attentive and cared about the proceedings, but I know that I am likely to spend the meeting on my phone. Honestly, trying to care about everything all the time is an excellent way to achieve burnout. I will say spending an hour on a Saturday talking about democracy is far less interesting than being part of a protest or a march.
While protests have their place in our society, it is easier to be part of a short-term effort like a protest than being part of the long-term duty of up-keeping our democracy. I can’t say I blame someone for not tolerating the dilatory nature of democracy, and it is quite frankly exhausting. However, a protest without any aspects of democracy is not an effective protest. When speaking about the women’s march in 2017, David Brooks — a conservative critic — critiqued the protest’s efficacy (“After the Women’s March”). Brooks stated that the lack of bureaucracy in the movement was an obstacle to the march’s meaning (“After the Women’s March”).
“Without the discipline of party politics, social movements devolve into mere feeling, especially in our age of expressive individualism. People march and feel good and think they have accomplished something. They have a social experience with a lot of people and fool themselves into thinking they are members of a coherent and demanding community. Such movements descend to the language of mass therapy” (“After the Women’s March”)
While I am hesitant to critique the public’s efforts to make a change for fear of dissuading the more moderate people from joining, I agree with Brooks’ overarching argument. An efficient way of disintegrating or changing a biased system is to target the system itself. Opting to change the system from the inside-out rather than trying to dismantle it from the outside. Therefore, it is so instrumental to have elements of the conventional political activity in a protest to increase its efficacy.
This is a point that John Lewis acknowledged in his essay “Together, You Can Redeem the Soul of Our Nation”. “The vote is the most powerful nonviolent change agent you have in a democratic society. You must use it because it is not guaranteed. You can lose it” (“Together, You Can Redeem the Soul of Our Nation”). During the Civil Rights movement in the United States, specific aspects of the unjust system allowing voter disenfranchisement were targeted (Lewis 87). The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) had to provide education for literacy tests (Lewis 57). Here I am 60 years later with the power to change the system. So, I feel as though it is my duty to be willing to spend a couple hours of my life being part of the up-keep of democracy.
I promised earlier in this essay that I would not try to drone on about why you should vote — but I may have to break that promise. In March, the line “we’re willing to be beaten for democracy” was said regarding trying to be part of our local government (Lewis 173). You should want to vote to avoid being silenced. I know it’s much more comfortable to simply give up on the bureaucratic systems that have too often betrayed us. But, the sad fact is inequality is not a comfortable issue. You’re not supposed to be comfortable when dealing with the fact that you are choosing to allow a hateful and evil system run rampant.
“I didn’t try to register for you. I tried to register for myself” (Lewis 107). That simple statement is why I am involved with my local government. I will take the laborious duty of being informed — not just to fight the systemic inequalities but for me. I will continue to be part of the long-term effort to maintain our democracy. It may not be easy, but it is worth it. I hope that you are also willing to fight for our rights.
Works Cited
Brooks, David. “After the Women’s March.” New York Times. New York Times. 24 Jan 2017 Web.www.nytimes.com/2017/01/24/opinion/after-the-womens-march.html. Accessed 8 March 2021.
Lewis, John, et al. March: Book 3. Top Shelf, 2016.
Lewis, John. “Together, You Can Redeem the Soul of Our Nation.” New York Times. New York Times. Web. moodle.berea.edu/pluginfile.php/535046/mod_label/intro/John_Lewis_OpEd_2020.pdf. Accessed 8 March 2021.
