Have You Voted Yet?

Flickr photo courtesy of Samantha Celera

I had grabbed an absentee ballot & registered to vote in my area a few weeks ago. Today, I was able to complete it and turn it in! Yay me! I’ve never registered to vote, at least, not till now. It was too easy to come up with a million excuses as to why I couldn’t or wouldn’t, such as: being deployed in the middle of nowhere, living overseas, being a permanent resident of another country, voting in the US is such a headache-inducing hassle, my vote can’t make that much of a difference, etc. BTW, can you believe how hard they make it for a person to vote in the US? I mean, sheesh, you’d think they were trying to thwart the good people from having a say, making a difference, or something to that effect…?

Being a permanent resident of another country pretty much kills any chances of me being able to vote in the country I’m not residing in, and I’ve been under that status for most of my life because of my parents residing overseas and me using that childhood home as a permanent address. Sure, I was born a US citizen, but I’ve never actually lived in the US until I joined the military, and even then, I was overseas more than I was CONUS (in the Continental US). Confused yet? I know I am! Sometimes I wonder which country I’m more of an expat to, since my culture and preference is mainly from one country, while my upbringing and values are from another.  Anyway, now that DH & I have bought our first home together — here in the US, it only makes sense to become more involved in matters that trickle down and affect us. As a veteran (and I’m sure many can relate), anything that “trickles down” on you from another source is hardly good. I know, “thanks for the subliminally gross visual”; that’s my militant humor creeping up — I can’t help it sometimes. Hey, at least I used “trickle” instead of #2.

Part of the reason I’ve decided that now’s the time to register, to vote, to be heard, was because I felt like the majority of people who vote are the ones who pretty much control the nation; they are the 1%, I am the 99%. Yep, I’m going there. The Occupy Movement has inspired me to join my fellow neighbors, friends, and veterans, in hopes that together we can produce a wave big enough to rock the nation in our direction. As a veteran, I’m embarrassed — no, ashamed, at how this country has become the toilet capital of the world — where “floaters” and “sinkers” gather together to become nothing more than, well, pieces of you-know-what. You can’t truly know how other countries view the US until you’ve set foot outside your own backyard and taken a good, hard look at what surrounds you, until you’ve lived on the other side and peered in.

There are so many people who are left with nothing or less than nothing to survive on; the 99% — us. Then there are the elite few who live extremely well, thanks to the strife, efforts, sweat, blood, and tears of the 99%. Who would do such an inhumane, morally appalling thing? Why, the 1% of course; the ones who happen to decide our fate and demand the execution of what little freedoms we have left. I for one, am tired of this imbalance. It’s inhumane & it’s killing the world and life as we once knew it. If there’s ever going to be a change in this world — it has to start somewhere, so in my neck of the woods it will start with me.

Through my vote.
Which puts humanity in the right position.
To do the bidding necessary.
To clean up the world of its fugliness, greed, and corruption.
Making room for a better one, a balanced one.
With clean air and no gas price hikes.
With blue oceans teeming with a lively ecosystem.
With countries no longer at war with one another.
Where there is no rich-and-greedy.
Where there is no poor-and-hungry.
Where freedom is truly free.
For my kids.
For my grandkids.
For everyone.
For me.
For you.
And for yours.

…Have you voted yet?