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Tuesday October 3, 2000

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You can make a statement by not voting. That doesn't mean that anyone has to listen.

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By Nick Zeckets

In any environment, stupidity will rear its ugly head, but on college campuses, stupidity seems so much more extreme. Example: Counter-Campaign 2000 is working to get people to stay away from the polls this November. Why? No-vote campaigners seem to have devised a strain of logic to back their daft plan. These half-wits need to be shoved off campus to support voting in America.

Kristen Tynan, who graduated from the UA just two years ago, is a ringleader in this poor excuse for a political movement. She indicated that "Just because someone doesn't vote, they aren't apathetic...It's just a different way of showing dissatisfaction of the government." That's about as brilliant as a sack of marbles.

Apathy is exactly what poor voter turnout is all about. Whether one of the candidates floats your boat or not, there will always be a write in slot. More than that, if none of those running are up to par, run for office yourself.

Labeling ours as the "X-generation" is close, but missing some letters. We're more like the eXcuse Generation. It never seems to be one's own fault that the government is unrepresentative, laden with red tape, etc. If the candidates piss you off so much, write in a vote or get on the ballot.

Robert Peters, a marketing and entreprenuership major, is the "fodder-squad" lackey on campus. He found that voting is "tyranny in another form. The minority is forced to do things that they otherwise wouldn't want to do." Atta boy Robby. If you don't vote at all, you not only take yourself out of politics entirely, but you leave open the opportunity for your least favorite representative to get elected.

What minority is Peters referring to? Are white males the only ones who can get on a ballot? Can those white guys not possibly represent someone out of their age, race, sex, wealth categories? No, no, no.

Consider this: if only certain types of people can get enough votes to get elected, that means one of two things. Either only certain people show up to the voting booths or those people are more representative than the Counter-Campaigners think.

How in the name of all that is Holy did this garbage get a following? The thinking is really quite simple: not voting at all means that you are showing true disdain for government, or you're just watching television. Either way, someone is getting elected. By not voting, these kids are opening the doors for poorer representation.

True, our elected elite do not represent all of us in every facet we would like them to. However, by not voting at all, any representation possible disappears. Truthfully, even among best friends there are still disagreements. Not everyone can always be happy with everything, but many people can be happy about something.

If no one voted, than our government would either run by itself as a plutocracy or crumble. Let's take a gander at both futures.

In a plutocracy, big business would be the only game and ridiculous laws would swamp everyone. Progress would stagnate, those not in government would starve, and things would basically suck.

Scenario two: anarchy. Hoorah for rogue warriors and the rule of the fittest. Sick? Sorry, just die. Small? Tough, Mr. Big Man is going to take your self-sufficient farm and kick your ass. Poor? Too bad, you're just plain old screwed.

Alrighty then. Those both sound pretty rotten and those are the consequences of a non-participatory election. What's more important here than making some sort of statement is getting at least some of what you want this November.

There are four more years until our president-to-be faces another election to protect his post. If you're old enough by then, go after it. If you're too young, find someone who you can relate to and try to influence that which you disagree with. Political analysts are on trial here, not George or Al.

Be the person who tells the next prez to support the legalization of drugs, the removal of music labels, or whatever. Just don't sit there and bitch about how crappy all the representatives are. Staying home on Nov. 7 is like saying you don't care, not that the candidates are bad. Counter-Campaigners need to grow up and try to change what they can. To the rest of campus: Get up and give a damn!