Nothing has changed

By: Luke Palinski

Posted: 9/21/06

Whenever voting time comes around it almost becomes impossible for me not to think about the band A Global Threat. Besides being an incredibly politically charged punk band, they managed to come out with a CD that describes our political climate perfectly. "What will change?" Now, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that middle word in the title and it takes even less of an intellectual to realize that no matter who gets elected, that CD will perhaps be the wisest sage to ever speak to the people willing to listen to it.

Let's be honest with ourselves. Besides the face in the suit, nothing truly significant will change. Anyone who gets elected, be it Democrat or Republican, will not make the Big Dig a worthwhile endeavor that didn't crush someone to death. The RMV won't suddenly become some friendly place that charges reasonable sums of money for basic services, and public transportation won't suddenly become a viable means of regular commuting.

With those issues alone staring any informed person in the face how can anyone still be thinking, "Wow, I wonder why voter turn out is so low? Why are voters so apathetic?" Let's wake up. We need concrete results that the average person can pinpoint. We need something that will impact the average person and not just the die hard political activists or special interest group that may or may not have their funding slashed based on some religious reasoning.

People need to start holding our elected leaders accountable for their promises. I know, that's been said countless times before, but let's go back to the Global Threat CD, "What has changed?" The answer is quite simply, "Nothing."

We do have ourselves to blame as well. We keep electing the same suits from the same parties rather than exploring different options. Ever get annoyed by the guy that won't try sushi because he absolutely knows it is disgusting? Well, it is the same situation here. The average voter is so scared of "throwing his vote away" or even looking into a new party that the climate that could foster change is as suitable as the climate in the Arctic is for growing watermelon.

So, what can be done? Well, we can all shrug our shoulders and continue to fill in the box next to the big "R" or "D" on the ballot or we can actually go out and educate ourselves and make a conscious effort to learn about other candidates. Voters can give the complacent parties that are in office such a run for their money that results would actually be realized.

Then again we can all shrug our shoulders, realize that nothing will change at all and just not vote or care. We can also lie to ourselves and say that our two party political system is one that really stimulates politics and things really are going to change for the better. If we do continue going down this route then we might as well bundle up before we go farming, because I hear the Arctic is a bit chilly.