by Tanian

Created on: February 05, 2007   Last Updated: March 19, 2008

Should you vote in the next election?

Yes. Yes you should.

In no way is it morally acceptable to negate this responsibility.

To abstain from a vote is, to say the very least, a deeply greivous act.

It is reprehensible. It is an insult to your very own blood.

And shortly, we will discuss why...

Is it really worth it? Will your vote make a difference?

Yes. Yes it will. But the scale upon which it will count is the essence of this question. To truly make a difference one must make the correctly informed choice. An educated response. One is obliged to follow a moral, and perhaps costly, course of action.

This may all seem very grandiose. After all is said and done, what difference can one voice make? What difference to the mess our world finds itself currently enduring?

Let us begin at the beggining. Why should we find ourselves obliged to cast our ballot, even if it proves to be a futile act?

History.

Democracy began a long time ago. Its origins reflect ancient Greek philosophy, the pursuit of ideals. Reason enough, one might think: It is a high act in itslef.

Modern Democracy, on the other hand, began all too recently.

Oliver Cromwell, a farmer no less, raised an army to stand against tyranny in his homeland. His New Model Army crushed its enemy and Cromwell found himself replacing the King of England as the Head of State, our Lord Protector.

Instead of abusing his power (however one may judge Cromwell's rule, it is important to remember he stayed true to his ideals, his Puritanical beliefs), he declined the coronation offered to him by his newly created Parliament.

Fast forward towards the American Revolution. A gentleman named Thomas Paine emigrated from England to become an American Citizen at the invitiation of one Benjamin Franklin.

Paine converted George Washington to the rebellion and created the name 'United States of America' for the new country he had helped to create.

Paine's words, form his newspaper Crisis, were read to Washington's troops immediately before the crossing of the Delaware.

Paine then relocated to France, where he served the Revolutionary cause once again.

Shortly afterwards (in geological terms, at any rate) England suffered its own bloodletting. The Chartist movement, a group that campaigned for the vote to be given to all men upon reaching the age of majority (instead of only to the landed gentry), suffered shootings, mass killings, the constant threat of imprisonment and even execution to secure us the vote (For more on this try searching for the

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