Why Your Vote Matters

Communities come together when the people with more are willing to serve the people with less. Less/more means a lot of things. Less money. Less time. Less resources.

{Side note - less time is a real thing when you are in poverty. More time is spent traveling via walking, biking, or bus. Taking the bus means you have to do more trips- and this depends on how much you carry. Less time is when you have kids and don’t have family or community support available and/or healthy so you have to spend 100% of your time with them. This is compounded with disability is a factor. I could go on but I’m sure I’ll dive into this more another time.}

I look back at all of the public programs that were offered over America’s short history, they all acted as natural protections for communities. These are only some, but look at the impact that they had.

Free school lunches meant that kids were guaranteed 10/21 recommended meals a week. Additionally, it made kids more likely to attend classes, learn, and receive emotional support.

Food Stamps/FoodShare meant that people could eat, a requirement for life, while they navigated past trauma and/or current crisis as they worked to get back on their feet.

Libraries are the only place left in society where nothing is expected from you if you are in that space - a luxury if you have a large family, small home, lack of resources, ect.

Now, community supported laws/political groups are going after them too.

Crazy Fact for 2023: The community in Jamestown Township, a city in Michigan, has recently passed a law to defund a library because they disagree with some of the books that are out.

What the Hell.

Isn’t free speech/reading something that we, as Americans, value and are proud of? Why is it okay for one group to ban things and not the other? Doesn’t learning about both cultivate critical thinking and *freedom* of choice?

Today, more and more votes are being made and more and more laws are getting passed that have real life consequences on real life people. Talented people that have intricate families, big dreams, and unique passions.

We can acknowledge where we, as individuals and as a community, have fucked up, apologize, and actively work to make things better. We also need to vote to make things better.

I’ve said it before and I’m not going to stop. We can do better. We need too.

Elections happen more then every four years and the local ones are the most important.

The United States has only been around for about 2.5 lifetimes- seriously it's only been 246 years. It is scary to go backwards knowing that because it isn't that far and we are on a slippery slope.

Voting is not supposed to be represented by religious ideology. Especially in America where we claim that we are "inclusive of everyone".

That's bullshit. If you are inclusive of everyone, then you wouldn't vote on your preference over people lives. Regardless of if they look/act/believe different then you.

That's not acting in God's love. That's acting in personal self interest and I believe that we can all do better. No matter what religion, or non religion, that you represent.

Showing Agape Love is showing His love with your actions. Those actions include your vote.

How is your vote impacting the lives of the people around you?