Yesterday (Thursday), I begrudgingly filled out and turned in my ballot for this year’s 2024 election.
I wasn’t motivated to vote because I didn't like any of the candidates I saw on the ballot this year (in fact, I don’t like any of them, at all, for a myriad of various reasons). I was simply motivated to vote on one issue that appeared on my ballot this year: proposition 127, the mountain lion/bobcat hunting ban of Colorado.
Of course, being the hunter and aspiring biologist that I am, I voted against proposition 127 because banning mountain lion hunting wouldn’t actually ban the conservation and management of mountain lions. It will simply cause the government to spend money they shouldn’t have to on managing mountain lion populations, instead of having hunters pay the government thousands of dollars on tags and taxes (which go towards wildlife/wilderness conservation and management) to hunt mountain lions.
Besides, when hunters kill mountain lions, they turn that thing into a freezer full of meat and a pelt on the wall (contrary to what proponents of the bill say). But, when the government culls mountain lions, those mountain lions are left to rot (case in point: look at how California manages their big cat populations). In other words, voting for proposition 127 is voting to kill mountain lions and leave them to rot using taxpayer dollars.
But, all that is besides the greater point of this piece.
The point I’m trying to make here is this: four years ago, I didn’t vote because there was nothing on the ballot that caught my eye. My country was in shambles due to covid, economic issues, and increasing political violence. Nobody in government in any political party seemed to give a shit about the American people or even about telling the truth. And frankly, I didn’t think my vote mattered anyway because I was registered to vote in Colorado (a blue state), and had I registered to vote in Washington (which is where I lived for nine months during the worst of the pandemic), it too, was (and is) an even bluer state.
So, during the 2020 election, I simply sat back and let the shitshow go on without my voice being heard at all.
This year, however, I decided to vote not just because I wanted my voice on the mountain lion ban to be heard, but also because I figured, what the hell. I’m already voting on one thing anyway, why not fill out the rest of my ballot to the best of my ability?
Plus, as far as I can tell, my country is still in shambles; the economy still sucks tremendously for the average person, political violence is getting even worse, and instead of covid being the main focus of the election, other (stupider) aspects of the culture war have taken the spotlight in the worst ways possible. Even if, in the end, my vote didn’t matter, I figured I might as well fill out my ballot to see what it’s like, and even teach myself about America’s politics in the meantime.
After getting all of my school stuff done for the day on Thursday, I holed myself up in my bedroom with a laptop, a pen, and my ballot, and went to work filling out my ballot. I didn’t vote on everything I saw in it, but I made sure to vote for the most important policies and people I saw on the ballot.
Aside from the fact that I voted against banning wildcat hunting in Colorado, I don’t feel comfortable disclosing anything else I voted for/against on the ballot. People who know me well can probably guess who/what I voted for and against. But, in today’s political climate, I’ll otherwise keep my mouth shut about who and what I did and did not vote for.
After all, today’s political landscape is extremely tense. Misinformation is rampant more than it ever has been before. People are becoming increasingly tribal on both sides of the political spectrum, causing them to see people who disagree with them as existential enemies towards them. We have politicians on both sides of the political spectrum calling each other names, and claiming both Harris and Trump are fascist, wannabe dictators who will destroy this country the second they sit their ass down in the Oval Office. Both social media and the news media on both sides of the political spectrum, have spent their time clip-chimping (taking clips out-of-context) politicians and voters alike to make the opposing side look as terrifying and evil as possible.
Overall, politics is just a mess, and I want nothing to do with it.
Unfortunately, however, while I may not want anything to do with politics, politics absolutely wants everything to do with me. I mean… politics literally runs the country. Every law, every tax, every regulation, every court case, etc, is determined by our country’s leaders, whom we vote into office. At least, that’s the simplistic way of explaining how the US government usually works. Keyword: usually.
Unfortunately, we live in very perilous times, at the moment. What we’re currently living though isn’t necessarily new for our country. However, what does make today’s chaos “new” is the fact that social media and the 24/7 partisan infotainment- er I mean- news cycle, exist, which do nothing but stoke the flames of division and tribalism in this country.
As much as I try to avoid partisan mainstream news, I do occasionally come across newsfeeds from partisan news networks such as CNN and Fox. From what I’ve gathered, both places live in entirely separate realities; realities in which the “other side” is dehumanized and called evil. “They’re coming for your guns!” and “They’re coming for your ballots!” are just a couple inflammatory statements I’ve heard from mainstream news networks. The internet is full of much, much, much worse.
Honestly, such inflammatory statements are not only wildly exaggerated (at best), but they motivate people to act out in very scary and violent ways. That’s actually a small, but still significant reason why I decided to turn in my ballot as soon as possible. Sure, voting in Colorado is extremely safe and easy, even on election day itself. But, I’ve decided to play it safer still this election, by turning in my ballot within a couple days of getting it.
To be continued…
