With election day quickly approaching, many people are struggling to decide who to vote for. After witnessing the first debate, the answer has become clear: just ignore the election until it goes away.Let’s face it, the American people have opted out of voting since we first started national elections. Around 42.5 percent of Americans ignored the election in 2012, staying in the comfort of their homes instead of going out to wait in hour-long lines just to press a button. Besides, who wants to drive to a poll location just to give their opinion and then leave?
Our votes don’t matter in the grand scheme of things anyway. Our representatives and senators vote for new laws that help their corporate owners, and the electoral college picks the president. It’s easier to let someone else control our country rather than learn all of the different ins and outs of politics to stay informed.
Rachel Bradford, junior political science major, refuses to even register to vote.
“It’s such a boring process,” Bradford stated, “I tried registering before, but the form is so long and requires a lot of personal information like my social [security number] and home address. I get it, prevent voter fraud and make sure I am who I say I am, but like, what if someone steals the form?”
Aside from the long registration and wait times, a large reason we shouldn’t vote is the candidates themselves. Currently, half the country hates one candidate while the other half hates the other. Both Republicans and Democrats use the excuse, “If you don’t vote, you’re voting for the other party,” which proves the only service political parties serve is to be mean to the other party.
Not voting will avoid conflict among friends and family that might have differing political views this election season. With dinner topics already filled with arguments about religion, work and school, why add to the present stress in your household?
Johnathan Hernandez, sophomore history major, avoids political talk altogether among his friends. When it came time to create roommate contracts, he knew exactly what to add.
“My roommates and I agreed not to mention politics at all within our room. We even have incentive not too: if someone mentions the elections or a debate or politics in general, they have to clean both bathrooms for a whole month,” Hernandez explained.
Avoiding an “American Idol”-esque decision about the most important person in the country is a fundamentally smart choice. Let’s face it, our country is going through some pretty intense changes, and the last thing we need right now is someone in our country’s highest position of power that half the American people hate.
The easiest way to maintain a happy, stress-free end of the year for 2016 is to avoid all thoughts of the election. The negative energy that exists with debates and politics can be an overwhelming additive to our already busy lives. Letting someone else take control just makes one less thing to worry about. When people say “ignorance is bliss,” they’re not wrong.
