Vote or Die

In the last US election, celebrities jumped into advertising campaigns urging citizens, especially youth, to go out and vote. One of those celebrities was P. Diddy (or Diddy or whatever name he adheres to these days), and his campaign was called 'Vote or Die'. To me that just sounds like some silly gangster rap attempt at giving the right to vote some street cred, but if you think about it, voting is extremely important. Voting is a right that people have fought for and still fight for in various parts of the world. I am not sure why voters are particularly apathetic in today's society, but, I can understand the feelings of futility that arise when contemplating current Canadian politics.
Today with the national election upon us, I hope that more people are going out to make informed choices at the polls, however, I know that likely won't happen. My sister tells me appalling stories of her male housemates who don't even care who they elect, they are voting for the candidates whom their parents vote for. It's a sobering thought that in this day and age some university students have that attitude... that they are so apathetic to their country that someone else needs to make their decisions for them. I mean, they seem to be able to live apart from their parents all by themselves and go to school all by themselves, so why can't they think and vote for themselves? Some might say we should be congratulating them on even getting out the door to go and vote, but I don't subscribe to that. If you are going to vote, why would you waste your ballot and give someone else the power to make your decisions? That's why there is a legal age for voting. You aren't considered responsible enough to make such important decisions until that age.
Apart from the fact that someone else fought for you to have an individual say in the political formation processes of Canada, maybe we should contemplate the fact that if we don't vote we don't have a single right to make any nasty comments about Canadian politics until the next election, when hopefully more voting will take place.
So, as eligible Canadian voters head to the polls today, we should all contemplate our choices and the potential consequences. Are you spoiling ballots or voting for parties who won't change the impending doom and gloom?
Well, for me, it's as my friend Cassie so succinctly put it in her messenger name last week, 'Friends don't let Friends vote Conservative'.

P.S. This guy seems to be gaining some notoriety as a good predictor of Canadian election outcomes, although as far as I know he has only successfully predicted the results of our last election. Let's hope that today his projections are skewed.