  Does it really matter? There are too many people I know who don't seem to think so. They say that there are no real choices. They see little difference between candidates; the hot issues of the day don't really affect them, they say. How could I disagree any more? There is such a culture of apathy in this country.
The difference between having no choice, and choosing not to exercise the privilege of making that choice known, is so tiny as to be insignificant. If you don't choose, you don't deserve the privilege, anyway. Of course it matters. There are few things in life that matter more. Here is what I am talking about: In Venezuela, just a couple of days ago, Hugo Chavez won a referendum on his Presidency. Voter turnout was something like 90%.
In this country, we are lucky to get 40%. That is pathetic. If the same kind of apathy were at work in Venezuela, right now there would be chaos. But, in constitutional terms, Venezuela is a brand new country. They only put together their constitution about a decade ago, and there is still great love of democracy there. Not necessarily so, here.
We claim to be the Land of the Free. Part of that freedom, I suppose, is the right to choose whether to vote. There are problems with this: Voting is the basis of democracy. If you aren't voting, you aren't participating in democracy. This means that you don't live in a democracy. Germany in the 1930's allowed their democracy to be taken away by a screaming lunatic, because no one would stand up and protect the weak in that country.
There are few things that are more basic to a democratic society than the protection of those who cannot protect themselves. Give that up, and you give up your right to self-determination, because when it comes your time in the weak position, you also will be left to die. There is nothing so pathetic than a people who will not fight for that right to self-determination. 40% is not a good number. A people with so little grasp of what it means to live in a free society does not deserve to live in that society. 
