It’s Your Right, nay Your Duty

By: Samantha S. Daviss

There are so many things we all take for granted in this world; we don’t mean to, it’s just a part of life and the luxury of living in a first world country. Things like when we need to fill our glass with water, we walk over to the faucet, turn the handle and voila we have water. Or the fact that we can walk out into our garage, turn a key and our car starts, and then we reach above our head and push a little button to open our garage door, and it opens. So you see, we had three things right at our finger tips without even batting an eye…running water, fuel in a working car, and electricity.

This grand country of ours has been through a lot, and we have all managed to pull together and become a fighting entity. That is why the rest of the world envies us so much. From a civil war, to two World Wars, to Korea, to Vietnam, and now the Middle East; we are a country that fights in what we believe in, what we stand for, and our freedom.

And our freedom is probably the principal asset in all our lives as Americans that we take for granted the most. One gift that we have forgotten what all the fighting and wars were and are all about; and that is our freedom to vote, to speak our minds, to work at any job we want, and to travel to any state or country we want. Our freedoms were not received lightly, in fact many lives were lost, families destroyed, and children orphaned for the sacrifices that the great men and women of our military that have given so fervently to us.

So as a form of respect to those that have in fact laid down their lives for us, we need to remember why they have done so. And that is to give us, and our future children the lives we deserve…the lives to live in a democracy, to voice our opinions, to stand up for what we believe in as a society. Obviously we aren’t all going to agree, or see eye to eye on subject matters, but that is the beauty of being an American. We don’t all have to agree, we don’t have to have the same view point as our neighbors, we just all have to stand up for what we believe in and voice our opinion and to get along as a society.

And to voice our opinion, we need to vote! Voting doesn’t always have to be about our next president, or congressman…it can be about things we don’t even realize are happening on a daily basis at the city, county, or even state levels in government. Voting doesn’t have to be about the pomp and circumstance with the issues we hear about on the daily news at the federal level…voting issues can be happening right here under your nose at the city level.

Like right now, our little town has a proposition on the voting ballot to completely renovate, repair, and restore our historic courthouse. Our courthouse is 108 years old, and you can only imagine the stories that could be told if those walls could talk. And that is exactly what our community is trying to do, is save a little piece of history, charm, and aesthetics by bringing the courthouse back to its former glory, without increasing our tax rates one penny. That to me is worth a trip down to the voting polls to save a little piece of history, and restore the building that is filled with grandeur, beauty and stories.

Living in the county seat is a pretty advantageous opportunity from the socio-economic standpoint. If you think about it, it gives more job opportunities, it incorporates a jail, which offers more employment opportunities, and it is the epicenter of our great county.

So take advantage of your rights as an American, and go vote. It isn’t painful, it’s actually a whole lot of fun to know what is going on in your community, and knowing you did your part in helping your community thrive and grow.