The Student News Site of Colorado State University

The Rocky Mountain Collegian

The Student News Site of Colorado State University

The Rocky Mountain Collegian

The Student News Site of Colorado State University

The Rocky Mountain Collegian

Print Edition
Letter to the editor submissions
Have a strong opinion about something happening on campus or in Fort Collins? Want to respond to an article written on The Collegian? Write a Letter to the Editor by following the guidelines here.
Follow Us on Twitter
Crypto Exchange Listing: Types of Exchanges and Compliance Requirements
March 25, 2024

The crypto industry continues to evolve, fueled by the increasing institutional adoption of crypto. Today, numerous companies are entering the...

DeHerrera: I’m not voting; you shouldn’t either

I’m not voting this November. Unless you believe any of the major candidates in this year’s election will improve our country for the better, you shouldn’t either.

I’m embarrassed that our country’s highest office has devolved into what it has today. Instead of of electing officials who are fit to lead our country, our election process has become a peanut gallery where politicians whore themselves to win the favor of the American electorate.

Ad

Instead of the office of the presidency symbolizing a leader who puts the goals of the people before their own, it’s on the verge of housing a dystopian dictator, pathological liar, or two ignorant idealists. You can’t win with any of them.

An educated voter can’t realistically pick any of our candidates. Sure, every candidate in the history of our country has had flaws and weaknesses, but not on this scale. With the exception of maybe Barry Goldwater or George Wallace, I’ve never doubted that any major candidate could handle the job if he or she was elected. Yes, I might not have always agreed with their policies, but I was never apprehensive of their abilities to lead our nation.

The unbridled disaster of this election presents a unique threat to our way of life. We are a country founded on the rhetoric of those who believed in something greater than themselves.

We’re stuck with a man who has no foreign policy knowledge, is by definition a racist, bigot, and sexist, and is an all-around terrible human being.

We’re stuck with a woman who used a private email server while Secretary of State, gave speeches to Wall Street firms which contradict her public policies, and who took as much as $156 million dollars of private donations while in office. Ethics don’t seem to be her strong suit.

We’re stuck with a man who doesn’t have an even basic grasp on one of the worst humanitarian crises in our generation, can’t name even one foreign leader he admires, and presumably doesn’t know the name of a dictator of a country we’re constantly at odds with.

We’re stuck with a woman whose solution to our national debt is to forgive all current student loans, cut defense spending by 50%, put a moratorium on all GMOs until they’re deemed safe, and who thinks that WiFi is dangerous to the human brain.

Seriously.

Please stop me if you think any one of these presidencies would be a good idea. And it now seems that people are shocked that we’re left with these choices, when primaries and caucuses had just under a 30% turnout.

Ad

This monster was built from our apathy. If not apathy, then ignorance. Many didn’t take the flaws of these candidates seriously when we had the chance and now seem surprised that the elections have turned out the way they have. If you didn’t vote in the primaries, you have no right to complain about it.

I voted for a candidate whom I believed in. Instead of wasting my time with writing in his name on the ballot, I’m going to stay home. This decision is more than casting a vote merely because I’m afraid of the outcome.

I’m not going to be manipulated in casting a vote this year, simply because it’s my “duty as a citizen.” I vote because I believe my vote counts toward a better future for our nation, that my vote actually makes a difference. I vote because I believe in the process, and our election process is broken.

It’s my hope that you do some introspection and determine whether you should stay home on Election Day too. If you don’t believe in the cause, don’t vote.

View Comments (4)
More to Discover

Comments (4)

When commenting on The Collegian’s website, please be respectful of others and their viewpoints. The Collegian reviews all comments and reserves the right to reject comments from the website. Comments including any of the following will not be accepted. 1. No language attacking a protected group, including slurs or other profane language directed at a person’s race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, social class, age, physical or mental disability, ethnicity or nationality. 2. No factually inaccurate information, including misleading statements or incorrect data. 3. No abusive language or harassment of Collegian writers, editors or other commenters. 4. No threatening language that includes but is not limited to language inciting violence against an individual or group of people. 5. No links.
All The Rocky Mountain Collegian Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • S

    Spam AdressOct 14, 2016 at 8:13 pm

    Our elections are rigged. At least vote for a their party. Wright someone’s name in. I am writing in ron paul.

    Reply
  • V

    Valerie DouglasOct 13, 2016 at 7:23 pm

    By not voting, you are just joining the ranks of other apathetic Americans who you blame for getting us to this point. If you don’t vote, then you cannot say anything about who is elected. I have no doubt that you will be glued to the tv on election day, but why? You don’t care and won’t have any skin in the game anyway. If you don’t vote, why don’t you just go live in a country where they have a dictator, then you can stay home and not worry about democracy and election day. See how you like that.

    Reply
  • R

    RobOct 13, 2016 at 1:02 pm

    Okay. But. One candidate is literally promising to actively undo civil, sociocultural, societal progress. To literally regress the country. The entire zeitgiest is at stake. Making a statement by not participating is, on some level – especially in this election – complicit with the results. Those with privilege (Christian, able-bodied, cisgender, heterosexual, white, male, etc. have the choice you’re speaking of. To use privilege in that way is damaging to those who are in danger of not just civil progress being halted, but being taken away.

    Reply
  • C

    ClassOct 13, 2016 at 12:52 pm

    A question, would you consider it better to not vote or to vote no confidence? Not voting means that you go unheard, voting no confidence send a message that none of the options presented are worthy.

    Reply