I didn’t vote in the democratic primary. My mail-in ballot sat on my dining room table for a month. I passed by it everyday, and everyday I felt hopeless, clueless. I couldn’t figure out what to do. That ballot became a symbol of political despair for me. Our right to vote was hard won, and I understand its importance. I don’t intend to squander that, but how do you make a hopeless choice?
Politics is not just about the best way to run a government, but about keeping people safe. It is about life and death issues of human rights. Year after year we vote for the lesser evil. When voting, I am trying to guess which person will hurt the least amount of people. Everytime I vote, I am worried that I have made the wrong choice and have put my community at risk. Who am I supposed to vote for that will protect queer lives, trans lives, women’s lives, black lives, palestinian lives, immigrant lives, and disabled lives? How can I possibly support someone who I know will hurt these communities?
Joe Biden campaigned on student loan forgiveness and protecting abortion rights and has failed on both counts. His administration has blocked ceasefire resolutions for Palestine at the United Nations and bypassed congress in order to increase weapon sales to Israel.
Marianne Williamson has been known as a new-age spiritual leader for decades and is notable for saying “sickness is an illusion” in reference to AIDS.
Dean Phillips is the heir to Phillips Distilling Company and was the president and CEO of the liquor company for 12 years. He is a multi-millionaire business tycoon.
Phillips has now stepped down, and Williamson has no hope of winning the presidency. Biden is the clear front runner democrat. Really, there was only one choice that was ever going to win. I stared at my ballot already knowing the winner, incapable of writing any name down.
None of these people represent my political beliefs. They probably don’t represent yours either. Pew research shows that most Americans are dissatisfied with current political candidates, the electoral college system, and the government as a whole. How can we be a representative democracy when our government doesn’t represent us? Most Americans are in favor of gun control and abortion rights yet we don’t have these basic protections in place.
America’s voting system is awful, and it is working as intended. It was not designed to be fair and equitable. It was meant to privilege white land-owning men. This system has not been fundamentally changed; It has just interpolated different populations. Your vote matters more if you live in Wyoming than if you live in California. Our districts have been gerrymandered back and forth. A candidate may have the most votes, but it only matters if those votes are from the right places. If you are a republican in California your vote will likely do nothing. If you are a democrat in Texas your vote will likely do nothing.
“The master’s tools will not dismantle the master’s house.”
Audre Lorde
Suffrage was (and is) crucial to attain, but it is not enough. Simply voting will not fix our democracy; we need actionable real change. We need community building and grassroots organizations. I want to look at a ballot and know that I have a real choice, a chance to actually make things better.
ShoutOut! James Madison University 