What Can You Do?

It seems intimidating to think about standing up to the government as just one person, and usually the question "how can I make a difference?" comes to mind. We must realize that we, the people that live in democratic societies, have the control. It's through your freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom to protest, and above all, freedom to vote. This is a right you are entitled to, and should not take for granted, for it is the only way to true freedom.

I am sad to see that it is taken for granted in my country. In the 2008 Canadian Federal Election, only 58.8% of registered voters went to the polls to vote. In the 2011 Federal Election, that number rose slightly 61.4%. That means that 38.6% of people did not vote; over a third of the population. I understand that some people have no interest in politics, but they must also understand that a simple vote can make a huge difference in the every day life of their country, because there is not one aspect of it that is untouched by government or society. With the huge amounts of information at our fingertips and our every day lives, anyone can do some research about a political party within minutes.

If you don't like something, protest! Governments, especially the US, love lazy, impressionable people. Why? Because they don't speak up. They don't have the willpower to get off the couch and get in the streets with signs that bear slogans of their unhappiness with government policy. This is a privilege our freedom provides us, and should also not be taken for granted. If I'm not convincing enough, I'm going to cite the example of Khader Adnan, a Palestinian prisoner who just won his freedom from Israeli Administrative Detention (arrested with no warrant and held indefinitely); his form of protest a hunger strike that lasted sixty six days and almost cost him his life. While I'm not encouraging people to starve themselves in the name of Democracy, I do support Khaders statement, his bravery, and his non-violent way of protesting against oppression. He is an example to us all of the power that we all possess.