This is my first blog post. I’m not sure I really even should post, since I got the access as the tech chair… But hey, why not?

The Get Out The Vote (GOTV) initiative has begun and gone into momentum with the UNO College Democrats. Our goals are to ID and register voters and then remind them to vote in the November elections. This is very important to us, as we are not only working to decrease the gnawing agony that is the voter turnout of the 18-24 age bracket, but also we provide support for the candidates we believe in.

Politics are important. Apathy is the process by which politics erode into a state of decay. It’s through apathy that action becomes inert. When action becomes inert, whomever wants to seize power will do so, and thus the system ceases to be a democracy, but rather a carefully-crafted dictatorship. By “dictatorship” I mean that those who are in power may basically through their own vision guide whatever they want wherever they want, regardless of their supposed constituency. An elected candidate is meant to represent the will of the people who elected them, which is impossible when the people who are supposed to be electing them on the whole have stopped caring. They get themselves in by presenting a front that will smoothely glide them into place, and then proceed to do whatever they want with the power they’ve been given.

Politicians are ours. The cynicism with connecting them as a separate identity known for dishonesty and trickery is terrible for democracy. They act for us in places of power, and if we can’t trust them to act in a way that we would like, then we ultimately will suffer as a people. They are the bullhorn through which our voices are channeled to those in control that would otherwise turn a deaf ear on the populace and let their own ambition be their guide. Therefore in order to be in any way a part of our own government, it becomes our duty to find a person to fit this role and move them forward by any means we have availible. We must seek out someone that we won’t feel cynical about, or at least LESS cynical about if there is nothing availible for the former. It’s better to make a compromise than to live with what comes since there’s no perfect and or immediate solution to the problem.

This is what it all comes down to. Changing things isn’t easy. It requires effort, which would be all right to give, but the real kicker is that it requires patience and persistence. America has lost its patience in all areas. We want our food to be fast, we want our service to be quick, we want our internet to be high speed, and we want all our gratifications to be as instant as possible. When it seems like there’s no way to simply flip a magic switch and make everything better, the popular reaction is simply to throw up one’s hands in discontent, complain, and then trudge on. Ultimately, more than any other force, this attitude will lead to America’s demise. It is the stem of cynicism, which comes from the discontent that grows from inaction that is caused by lack of patience to perform the actions and then wait for their results. Thus we find ourselves caught in an eddie where things happen that people dislike, there is an outcry, and then it falls away into a din only to occur again somewhere else, or even in the same place. All sound and fury, signifying nothing.

I’ve got news for you, America. CHANGE TAKES TIME. I acknowledge that what I’m doing now won’t pay off for maybe another year, maybe another five, maybe another decade, or even more. There will be successes along the way in the form of little changes, and there WILL BE FAILURES. Letting the failures be the end of it is the only way that failing actually happens. I will pick myself up, dust myself off, learn what I can from the failure, and continue on. In the end what will motivate me is the fact that I’m working for a cause in which I truly believe. I want the world to be a better place, and I have a vision of what that better place is (John’s “progressive happy place”-style). In order to bring about this world, it is up to me to do what I’m able when I’m able to bring it about. It won’t be fast, or instantly gratifying. But reading a history book makes change look easy, and the memories of the times where movements over the course of a decade were still being shared and still a tangible reality are now fading away into the past. Our very idea of time has been so utterly jaded that simply wrapping our brains around the concept that time passes and brings about change is difficult.

We are brought then to a world where the idea that change will ever come is being turned to poison in our veins and killing us as a nation. The masses are silent. The party I’m putting my voice into isn’t a perfect one, and by no means wholly encompasses my views. It has its problems and problem people. At the moment though, I see it as the most effective vehicle of change that I have availible. It’s easier to fix a house than build a new one, and the materials are already availible. I don’t pretend the house doesn’t need to be patched and mended, but I see the foundations that it was built upon as a solid and reliable place to begin. It will also provide me shelter with like minds who believe as I do and will help me work to make it better. Eventually, I will be able to put a secure roof over not just my dwelling, but on everyone’s.

I’d like to close this off with some words from Mahatma Gandhi, whom I believe to be among the wisest to ever live, “The Roots of Violence: Wealth without work, Pleasure without conscience, Knowledge without character, Commerce without morality, Science without humanity, Worship without sacrifice, Politics without principles.” All these things are happening in the world, and it’s so much easier to stand by and let it happen. The consequences of doing this are far too dire to ignore, and this is common fact. So if scandal is happening in the shadows of the political world, cast a light into the darkness and drag out the perpetrators, then leave no room to hide. Find something to believe in, then find someone who believes it with you. From that, change the world. Educate yourself, become active, and most important of all, VOTE. Gahndi also said, “You may never know what results come of your action, but if you do nothing there will be no result.” Go out, vote, and encourage others to vote, because the voice that says it doesn’t make a difference is the cry heard ’round the world.