In response to an article I read in The Weekly, I must say this: Voting DOES matter.

It matters to all the people who are fighting overseas, who want to defend a country against who they believe are the enemy.

It matters to the families of those who are fighting, who have lost their children in war and want the troops home.

It matters to the people who hate abortion, or those have been raped and impregnated. It matters to those who believe stem cell research is murder, or to those who have leukemia and need stem cell treatment. It matters to those who believe gay marriage is against their beliefs, or to those gay individuals who have found their one true love.

Certainly, death is inevitable, but the time before that is the important bit. Voting allows you to officially voice your opinion; it allows you to determine how this country is run. Even if your side doesn’t win, it still allows your particular issue to at least have had a platform. It also leaves a legacy after your death. People still talk about the elections of Dewey and Truman, or of Reagan and Mondale or of Bush and Gore.

Voter apathy is a bad thing. We created a democratic republic in order to rid ourselves of tyrants, and if we should ever get to the point that no one was voting, we would once again have to deal with tyrants—American ones. We cannot take a nihilistic viewpoint on voting, as we cannot take a nihilistic view on anything else in life. Death is very certain, but that shouldn’t deter us from one thing, lest it deter us from all things.

Stetson McAdams ‘14