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A Global Election
Nov. 3rd, 2008 10:53 pmI was trying to write a letter to Americans to encourage them to vote. Not who to vote for but just to vote.
It kinda fizzled.
It's hard to explain to Americans why they should vote: because they can; because it inconveniences them but it won't kill them; because America is so big that The American Way Of Life as they know it will continue like a behemoth no matter who wins; because when America sneezes, the rest of the world catches a cold.
I don't know that I have the right to tell Americans which candidate or party or policy better matches their world view, way of life, or what they think is important; but because what America does or does not do always ends up affecting the rest of the world, I think the citizens of the world do have the right to tell Americans that they should goddamn well get up off their couches, haul their butts into a polling place, and participate in the upcoming election - because voting for an American President doesn't just change their world, but our world as well.
It kinda fizzled.
It's hard to explain to Americans why they should vote: because they can; because it inconveniences them but it won't kill them; because America is so big that The American Way Of Life as they know it will continue like a behemoth no matter who wins; because when America sneezes, the rest of the world catches a cold.
I don't know that I have the right to tell Americans which candidate or party or policy better matches their world view, way of life, or what they think is important; but because what America does or does not do always ends up affecting the rest of the world, I think the citizens of the world do have the right to tell Americans that they should goddamn well get up off their couches, haul their butts into a polling place, and participate in the upcoming election - because voting for an American President doesn't just change their world, but our world as well.
