Civic responsibility?

So I have something of a confession to make- and what better place to make an intimate confession of the soul than the internet?

The truth is- I didn't vote on Tuesday. Now, realistically, I have no one to blame but myself. But this is election season- so I'm going to blame everybody! I'm going to blame the Obama administration for not fixing all of the problems that Obama said it would. And I'm going to blame the Rebublicans for creating all those problems in the first place. I'll blame my kids for being so needy. I'll blame my wife for being so busy with school. Satan gets some blame for placing distractions and temptations in my path- shoot I'll even blame God for not giving me the strength to overcome!

Seriously though, I have to sleep with the knowledge that I didn't vote. I'm pretty disappointed in myself- this is the first election since I graduated, when I was at the height of my political awareness. Is real life my kryptonite? And if so, which type is it?

The election season really snuck up on me, and by the time I was really aware of what was going on, it was too late to fully jump right in. What makes it even worse is that this is probably the last meaningful election before the end of the world in 2012.

All that said, the reason I'm even letting you into my tormented soul is because I believe that there is denial to be made...I mean, redemption to be had.

See, I knew a couple weeks ago that there was no way in Sheol that I was going to be able to properly ingest and process enough relevant information to be able to make an informed decision (and I'm not a straight ticket voter) so I pretty much mailed in my absentee ballot right then and there. Absentee, as in I am going to be absentee from the 2010 Election season.

And by doing this, I feel like I still performed my civic duty. Yes, let me repeat myself: And by doing this, I feel like I still performed my civic duty.

I feel this way because to me, there is more to voting than just showing up to vote. I could have walked over to the armory, checked into a booth, and played a good game of name recognition. Then I would have got my 'I voted' sticker, and the birds would have broken out into song as I walked along. I would have won the lottery, and all my dreams would have came true.

But would that be fulfilling my civic duty? Punching a bunch of names that have no meaning? I mean, I totally understand that my responsibility is to be an informed voter. But to those who voted, I ask this- were you fully informed? (See what I did there? I just totally flipped the spotlight from me to you...which gives me a chance to sneak away and escape).

I'm not talking about the brief synopses you can find in voter guides- that's how I used to vote. I'd pick up the voter guide, look for a couple issues that I felt were important, and go from there.

I have a much different perspective now, though. I realize that some of the issues I felt were important are slightly less important. I see the larger picture, and how some of the hot button issues have no real relevance in the daily lives of most people. I have learned that you can't just say 'so-and-so voted against this bill, so he/she is against this issue'...because there is so much substance to each and every bill, it's preposterous to think that you can summarize someone's stance on an issue because of how they vote on a certain bill.

The fact is, we live in a sound-bite society, and our political ads play right into that. There's no real information in them- it's all personal attacks and over-simplified quotes. That might be good enough for some people- but it's not good enough for me. I'm not content to vote out of emotion, which is what the past couple of elections have played on significantly. People are turning out to the polls in record numbers- but are they voting with their heads? Or with their hearts?

Whether you're for big government or small, you have to acknowledge the fact that running a country as large as ours is a very complex undertaking. I don't think it's feasible to power that kind of operation purely on emotion- yet that's what our political system is driving towards. We aren't looking for voters who are in the know- we want torches and pitchforks! And then we wonder why Republicans and Democrats can't get anything done- because their tenures are not fueled with mandates to accomplish tasks- they are driven by the impetus to keep the flames of passion alive in their constituents.

I know that I've done a lot of summarizing and stereotyping in this blog- so in that sense I'm a pusher. And I didn't 'vote', so I realize that my words have slightly less impact in this arena. But I really do want to see the system change. I want to see overhaul. I'm tired of the two-party domination. I'm tired of being spoon-fed- I'm an adult, I can handle my own silverware. Especially when all I'm being fed is garbage. I didn't vote because I wasn't informed- but I would rather be uninformed and not vote than to be an uninformed voter.

Now, where is that acetylene?