In Part 2 of this post you learned that Apathy—Apathy on the part of millions of Americans—is the single greatest threat to the United States of America. You also learned that if you are unhappy with the current state of affairs, if you are concerned about the direction our country is headed, if you are worried about your future and the future of your children and grandchildren, and you are not actively engaged in doing something about it, YOU are part of the problem. YOU are part of that threat.
Today you are going to learn what you can do about it.
The first and most important thing you can do is to exercise your right to vote. Our right to vote is, in my humble opinion, our greatest right. It is the right (along with our 2nd Amendment rights) that protects all other rights. It is the means by which We the People decide who will (and who will not) represent us in our Federal, state and local governments—who will make our laws, execute and enforce our laws and interpret our laws. It is also the right that is most often abused, misused or ignored.
That being said, a low-informed or uninformed voter, a voter that casts a vote purely on the basis of age, race, gender, party affiliation or position on a single issue, or even worse, a misinformed voter who casts a vote based on false or incorrect information, is worse than a non-voter. A non-voter has no effect on the outcome of an election whereas an incorrectly cast vote not only has a negative effect, it has a double negative effect.
Think of it like a football game that is tied and one team attempts to score a touchdown when the other team recovers a fumble at the goal line or intercepts a pass in the end zone and returns it for a touchdown. Instead of being up by 7 points, the team attempting to score is now down by 7 points. That is a 14 point swing from the expected outcome—a double negative. Casting an incorrect vote has the same impact on the results of an election. The negative effect on the expected outcome is doubled.
Whether you are voting in a national election, a state election or a local election, when exercising your right to vote remember that you have a moral obligation to yourself and to your fellow Americans to cast your vote responsibly. Whether you are a Democrat or a Republican, a Libertarian or an Independent, a liberal or a conservative, a capitalist or a socialist, you need to educate yourself about ALL aspects of who and what you are voting for and make sure that how you vote will support the outcome you expect.
But Apathy doesn’t stop with voting. There are many other things you can do or get involved in where you can help make a difference in achieving the outcome you desire. You can volunteer to help campaign for/against a candidate or an issue you support/dislike. You can join your local Political Party and become a delegate to your local precinct, district, state or national convention. You can volunteer for organizations, e.g. Convention of States, that support the same ideals as you.
And your involvement doesn't have to stop at the national or state level. Don’t like being told by your Homeowners Association that you can't fly your American flag in your front yard? Run against them. Don’t like how members of your school board are spending millions of dollars for a new football stadium instead of on education tools or teacher’s salaries? Run against them. Don’t like how members of your City Council have designated your town a “Sanctuary City”? Run against them.
The only thing stopping you from making a difference is your willingness to “let someone else do it,” your reluctance to take a more active role and get involved, your Apathy! As I said at the beginning of this post, if you are concerned about the direction our country is headed, if you are worried about your future and the future of your children and grandchildren, and you are not actively engaged in doing something about it, YOU are part of the problem. YOU are part of that threat.
(FYI, I became a delegate to my local precinct, district and state conventions and a volunteer for Convention of States this year. It took me a long time to realize that voting wasn't enough—that if I wanted to make a difference I had to get involved. I don't intend to stop now. There are many things I want to do to help support the ideals I believe in. I'm just getting started!)
P.S. Please leave a comment on our Facebook page and let me know what you think! It just might be your first step at defeating Apathy and getting involved!
