Saturday Night Live’s return from the comic abyss is one of many reminders: in just two weeks the polls will open and (hopefully) you will vote.
Voting once every four years in the presidential elections is probably what most Americans would consider their greatest act of citizenship. You make your choice, cast a ballot, and it’s affirmed: ours is a participative democracy. Unlike tax season – which visits us yearly – election day is a rare time to feel good about citizenship.
And so we’re inundated
With campaign coverage meant to prepare, inform, and turn us into super citizens for the one day when we exercise our full American clout. Meant to convince us that either Barack Obama or John McCain can take this country to where it needs to go – and that all we the people have to do is show up on November 4th, righteously choose, and then go back to life as usual.
It’s in the interest of the two major parties for us to believe that, as citizens, voting once every four years is the greatest thing we can do.
But you and I know better
As citizens, we have a voice in the national energy policy when we invest in our family car or buy light bulbs. As citizens, we have a voice in environmental policy when we shop at our local supermarket or purchase chemical products to use around the house.
As citizens, we have a daily voice on platforms of health, education, security, and more.
Every day is November 4th
Every day we vote for the world we want to live in. And it might help to start thinking of every dollar as a thin, green ballot.
Shouldn’t you put your money where your vote is?
What good is it to vote for the candidate with strong environmental policies, if you spend money on corporate brands that pollute our air? What good is it to support a candidate who is friend to the farmer, when you buy from companies that threaten family farms?
Candidates do not solve problems: invested citizens do.
An invested citizen knows
That each day we make elections: we choose how we spend, how we eat, how we use, and how we make.
Let’s think about how we invest our money. Let’s make every vote count.
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