The temptation of political apathy

For better or worse, many people feel like they won't be directly impacted by the presidential election in November. And that's probably true; our day-to-day lives are mostly impacted by local and state politics. But, that doesn't mean we should be apathetic. We have a responsibility to think about more than ourselves.

In addition to the actual policies that a candidate can / will enact, the result sends a strong signal about values. For example, the UK has seen an increase in hate crimes and racist abuse after the Brexit vote. While never condoning these behaviors, the vote legitimized nativism.

The election will actually impact everybody, directly or indirectly. Don't make excuses about why a result won't be that bad. Take a stand and vote for what you believe in. For democracy to work, we all need to be active participants.