Vote or not to Vote

Voting time is upon us once again. I remember my grandmother saying "voting is the most important thing you can do as a citizen". To be honest with you, it isn't something I jump up and down looking forward to. I don't feel a great sense of pride that I have done something important. Actually, by the time the big day arrives I feel a bit beat up and bullied. There is almost a sense of relief that it is finally over. I no longer have to be bombarded with attack ads everywhere I turn. I know the "experts" say people hate them but they work so they wont be going away. It was this my husband and I were discussing the other night that brought me to this post. I was explaining to him that I understood they have to show you all the bad points of their opponent but it has gotten to the point that nobody talks about what they want to do for you and why they think they are qualified to do it. They spend millions of dollars to slaughter their opponent in ads. Millions....Think about that. Mayberry here happens to located in one of what they are calling the "deciding states" so we are bombarded with them. The news report last week announced that according to financial reports one of the candidates has spent 14 million dollars on advertising while the other has only spent 11 million. Why would any sane person spend 11 - 14 million dollars to obtain a job that only pays around 250,00? There's a reason, think about it.
It occurred to me the other night with all the slaughter ads bombarding me that they are only trying to prove to us that they are the better person to vote on our behalf. They want to represent our opinions and needs, look how bad the other guy voted, he doesn't care about you but I do. Blah blah blah. I am so tired of the "look how he voted in the past" crap. Really, when it all comes down to it, can we blame them for their past voting behavior? Hear me out...These people who are voting on our behalf, caring for our needs; are they really to blame for their votes? I ask this because when was the last time anyone asked what it is we wanted anyway? When did we really have a say? Congress and Senate meet regularly to vote on laws for our country but do we have any say in those laws? Not really. Why is that? There isn't a person in this country who doesn't believe to some extent that politicians are crooked. You have tons and tons of lobbyist who are doing everything they can to get their issues through. You have laws repeatedly piggybacked that the public hears nothing about. Why do the few who are rarely affected by the laws they pass (rich) get to decide the fate of the rest of us? When our community wants to make a major change the public votes on it. Why not the country? Why cant we have voting stations set up? My husband says it would cost to much money. Why cant it be set up they same way jury duty is so all the people manning the stations are volunteers? Pay the few it would take to be in charge and have citizens man it. Do we really need to pay $10,000 for a hammer? Stations could be opened quarterly or semi-annually and the public could vote on the major laws for their land. The government has plenty of websites, they could post the upcoming legislation on the sites for the public to download and review. Not to mention, if you believe your senator or congressman has done a good job vote for him or her to get a raise. If they didn't get the vote they don't get the raise. Wouldn't that be better than them voting themselves annual raises while the minimum wage hasn't been raised in like 15 years? What would they really know about living on minimum wage? Not one of them lives on anything close to minimum wage and lets be honest here...I bet they don't hang out with the kind of people who do. Don't get me wrong, I don't think it would be perfect and covered in rainbows, there would be problems. But wouldn't it be a more fair society where the rich weren't constantly getting richer at the expense of the poor man? Lobbyists couldn't buy us all.
Just thinking.