Why Bother?!

The complaint droned on so long i could hardly stand it.

"Why bother?" the man was saying. "I'm not going to go vote because all the elections are rigged."

Inside i seethed, but said nothing.

"And also, look at how many are running. They have people who will go vote for the ones that have no chance, and that will split the vote, and the one that has already been decided on will win anyway. It's all rigged. You watch. No matter how many people vote this year, it's already decided It'll turn out just like last time"

After i finally got away, i went to vote anyway. Since this was just about convention delegates and other "minor" stuff, the turnout was very low, which also steams me.

Why bother, sir? Let me tell you why i bother.

There are the oft quotes ideas that if you don't vote, you shouldn't complain, and about the number of people in the world today who are dying, literally and figuratively, to be able to do so.

The fact that people fought and died, or were injured, to give me that right is brought up again and again. It also occurred to me that, even for those who fought and were not injured or killed, they did not come through unscathed. No one goes into battle and doesn't come out with some permanent psychological change. The unwounded are that way in body only.

My main reason, though, is i believe. Is the system perfect? Of course not. Are there back room shenanigans? Certainly; where there are humans, there will be human failings, and cheating can be one of them. Do some elections in this world end up rigged? Certainly, again. There are international organizations dedicated to watching to try to make sure it doesn't happen, but there are still questionable outcomes.

Just because a system has flaws, though, doesn't mean i don't believe in it. For the sake that i think we can make the system better, i continue to believe in it, and support it, and participate in it.

Every time the polls open in my neighborhood, barring sudden accident or illness or something else dire that prevents me, i will vote, i will bother.

Because i still believe.


Today is:

Anniversary of the Arengo and the Feast of the Militants -- San Marino

Annunciation of the Virgin Mary -- Roman Catholic Christian
Lady Day/Quarter Day -- England; Ireland; Wales (traditional New Year's Day)
Varfrudagen -- Sweden (waffle day)

Day of the Shining Ones of Heaven move Upstream -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Haru Matsuri -- Kyogo, Japan

Hilaria -- Ancient Roman Empire ("Day of Joy", honoring Attis)

Independence Day -- Cyprus; Greece

International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade

Medal of Honor Day -- US

Mother's Day -- Slovenia

National Day of Celebration of Greek and American Democracy -- Greece; US

National Lobster Newburg Day

National Pecan Day -- anniversary of George Washington's planting of Pecan trees at Mt. Vernon in 1775

National Waffle Day -- possibly also International Waffle Day, depends on the site you search

Numbskulls and Clodhoppers' Dance -- Fairy Calendar (I know a couple of people who qualify on both counts; I need to find out how to buy tickets!)

Old New Year's Day -- until 1751, British Empire

Revolution Day -- Greece (anniversary of the revolt against the Ottoman Empire in 1821)

Root Canal Awareness Week begins -- sponsored by the American Association of Endodontists

St. Dismas' Day ("Dismas" is the name given the in the Bible unnamed "Thief on the Cross", crucified next to Jesus, who repented; Patron of prisoners, funeral directors, criminals, thieves)

*Struggle for Human Rights Day -- Slovakia

The Tichborne Dole - in Alresford, Hampshire, UK; since 1150, a gallon of flour is given to every resident by the Tichborne family head on this day, to avoid a curse

Tolkien Reading Day -- sponsored by The Tolkien Society on the anniversary of the fall of Sauron


Birthdays Today:

Danica Patrick, 1982
Sheryl Swoopes, 1971
Sarah Jessica Parker, 1965
Paul Miles, 1952
Elton John, 1947
Bonnie Bedelia, 1946
Paul Michael Glaser, 1943
Aretha Franklin, 1942
Anita Bryant, 1940
Gloria Steinem, 1934
Simone Signoret, 1921
Howard Cosell, 1920
David Lean, 1908
Bela Bartok, 1881
Arturo Toscanini, 1867


Today in History:

The first Easter, according to calendar-maker Dionysius Exiguus, 31
According to legend, Venice, Italy is born today at noon, 421
Richard I is wounded by a crossbow bolt while fighting France, leading to his death on April 6, 1199
Robert the Bruce becomes King of Scotland, 1306
Sir Walter Raleigh renews Humphrey Gilbert's patent to explore North America, 1584
Henry Hudson embarks on an exploration for Dutch East India Co., 1609
Lord Baltimore founds Catholic colony of Maryland, 1634
Saturn's largest moon, Titan, is discovered by Christian Huygens, 1655
Mount Etna in Sicily erupts, destroying Nicolosi, killing 20,000, 1669
The Slave Trade Act becomes law, abolishing the slave trade in the British Empire, 1807
The Swansea and Mumbles Railway in England, then known as the Oystermouth Railway, becomes the first passenger carrying railway in the world, 1807
Percy Bysshe Shelley is expelled from the University of Oxford for publishing the pamphlet The Necessity of Atheism, 1811
Greeks revolt against the Ottoman Empire, beginning the Greek War of Independence, 1821
In New York City, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire kills 146 garment workers, leading to factory reform laws, 1911
The Georgian Orthodox Church restores its autocephaly abolished by Imperial Russia in 1811, 1917
The first successful tornado forecast predicts that a tornado will strike Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, 1948
The European Economic Community is established (West Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg), 1957
Canada's Avro Arrow makes its first flight, 1958
Civil rights activists led by Martin Luther King, Jr. successfully complete their 4-day 50-mile march from Selma to the capitol in Montgomery, Alabama, 1965
The first fully functional space shuttle orbiter, Columbia, is delivered to the John F. Kennedy Space Center to be prepared for its first launch, 1979
The world's first wiki, a part of the Portland Pattern Repository, is made public by Ward Cunningham, 1995
The European Union's Veterinarian Committee bans the export of British beef and its by-products as a result of mad cow disease, 1996
Protesters demanding a new election in Belarus, following the rigged Belarusian presidential election, clash with riot police, 2006