by Abubakar N. Kasim
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
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Your Vote Counts
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It bothers me a lot to see people not taking the election seriously by exercising their rights to vote and getting involved in the process.
It was mind boggling to hear that less than 50% of the eligible voters casted their ballot in the last federal election in Canada.
This shows a lack of appreciation and gratitude to those who had scarified their lives in order to facilitate this great achievement for us.
They made life easy for us so that we can choose the leader of our choice in a peaceful and democratic manner without the shedding of blood.
We can replace a leader with ease and comfort and not with bullets and machetes and with blood flowing on the streets like a river.
The system we have today did not come to us easily or accidentaly. It came with a huge price tag by men and women who gave away their lives so that we will live with dignity.
Egyptians, Libyans, Syrians, Tunisians and poeple of Yemen are putting their lives on the line in order to achieve what we in Canada take for granted. They are doing this for their children and future generations so that they will have a comfort in their lives and enjoy a sense of freedom. They will feel betrayed if their children don't honor their sacrifices by getting involved in the system in bringing a positive change to the wellbeing of the country.
Choosing a leader in many countries around the world means imminent death and destruction.
When my countrymen tried to replace the former leader, thousands had died in the process and the entire country of Somalia has almost burnt into ashes.
Replacing a leader in much of our world today means hell breaking loose.
People are being murdered in Libya for trying to restore their dignity and freedom – something we don’t appreciate and take for granted.
There is no excuse not to vote.
Voting, however, without a sense of awareness and understanding is an insult to the entire system.
One should not just vote like a robot or a drunken man who does not know what he is doing and just votes for the sake of voting.
It requires a basic knowledge of the process and getting familiar with issues that matter to the country.
One ought to be familiar with issues at hand and what each candidate stands for in order to make a sound judgement.
One should take the election very seriously and give it the attention it deserves.
We are not voting in the idol contest after all. We are choosing a leader for the country who is honest and knows how to run a country.
People who don’t bother to vote come up with different excuses to justify their decision not to care.
They don’t trust politicians after seen some of them not living up to their promises which they make during the election.
We have to blame ourselves for not holding politicians to account.
Had we been serious with them, they would not have betrayed us.
They would have known that we mean business and we are serious about it.
We are like the CEO of a company. If a manager does not live up to the company’s expectations, he is shown the door. Why don’t we do the same? We are the decision makers after all.
It is important to understand our roles and the power within us.
It is not harsh to describe politicians as our servants. They are our employees and they have the mandate to listen to us.
We are to blame for the deterioration of the profession and for letting politicians get away with murder. Had we been holding their leash tight, they would have behaved like a dog that tries to please his master and does everything to earn his pleasure.
It is important to understand the power that we as citizens have. We are like the sleeping giants who are unaware of the power they posses and the difference they are capable to make.
When Egyptians released their inner power, the dictator had run for cover.
There is no excuse for not getting involved in politics.
Politics affects our way of life irrespective of our age, gender and professions.
It affects the air we breathe, the food we eat, the future of our children and the future when we retire and when we die.
People around the world envy us for having the right to vote. It is utterly sad to see people not cherishing what we have.
Sadly, people tend to appreciate their precious things only when they loose them.
We are the power and we can certainly make the differences in our society and in our global village by getting involved in politics and taking the profession seriously.
Politics is not a club that exclusively belongs to the elite. Politics is for us and we ought to get involved and reclaim the power that we have.
Abubakar N. Kasim