Do you vote in political elections?

I didn’t start taking a vested interest in politics until my late 20’s. Even then, I didn’t really do my homework. I listened to my coworkers banter back and forth about their political views and I read the “CliffsNotes” that local news outlets posted about the debates. I based my decisions on information that other people fed me. Mainly, I voted for a party, because that’s what the masses were doing.

In my 30’s, I started participating in surveys to see how my views aligned with the candidates running in local and presidential elections. I dug a little deeper and found that the majority of items fed to me through local media was false. Campaign advertisements morphed into nothing more than smear tactics.

For most Americans, I feel the majority of votes cast are based off emotions. Social media algorithms do a fantastic job of fueling fires and presenting content that does nothing but divide. On top of that, voters are uneducated; they don’t do their research. They trust what is being pushed in their faces, without question.

I was encouraged to vote for Hilary “because she was a woman” and the “country needed a woman president”. When I didn’t jump on the bandwagon, I was called a “sexist”. Me, a woman, called a fucking sexist because I didn’t vote for another woman. Don’t mind her crookedness, her terrible campaign, and negative remarks about hard-working Americans. Same with Obama. When I voiced my opinions on Obama’s policies and how he was dividing the country, I was called a “racist”. If my point of view didn’t fall in line with whomever was in support of these candidates, I was all of a sudden a “sexist” or a “racist”. So, an emotional argument with no supporting logical argument?

On top of that, I have some serious concerns about the trustworthiness of our electoral system. 81 million people voted for our current president. How is that even possible!? Did 81 million people believe that a 49-year career politician was finally going to make a difference? Did 81 million people in this country vote for Biden, simply because they hated Trump? Or was something more sinister at play, like stolen votes, votes from undocumented or dead citizens, and fraud at the polling locations? <sliding my tin foil hat slowly behind my back>

Our country is creeping slowly toward self-implosion. I am scared for my children and their children’s future. It’s so very important to vote; everyone in this country should logically exercise that right. But, if you’re basing your vote solely on a candidate’s sex/race, if you “like them” or not, and what you are being spoon-fed via social media, without doing your research… please stay home and let the ones who truly care for this country and its future handle the next one.