Vote Today, and other things

as written by Nate

The election is upon us.

For the first time, I actually got out there to the polls. Before, it's not that I wasn't interested in voting or politics, but I definitely felt like my single count didn't matter. Especially in the presidential election. I was also, and still am,  opposed to the two party system. I don't know how it would be changed for the better, all I know is that I don't like it. For me it doesn't work to only vote Democrat on everything (although I tend to lean more that way). I dunno. I guess I don't have a good argument against it, I just don't love the system we have in place. But thinking about it now, I suppose that it's good that there are only a couple main candidates to choose from. Having too many choices would make the decision more difficult and more muddled.

-tangent alert-

Speaking of making decisions quickly, everyone should read the book Blink by Malcolm Gladwell.  It's about snap-decision making using your unconscious brain.  The book opens up a whole ton of stuff you probably didn't know about before. How the unconscious can affect what we think, while consciously we declare something else entirely. Far from a dry read about the brain and thinking, the author puts in a ton of anecdotal evidence and makes the book completely enjoyable. It would definitely be of interest to my poker-playing friends out there. There is an interesting test you can take online called the IAT (Implicit Association Test) that can shed some light on unconscious prejudices.

go to:   https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit

-tangent over-

Anyway, this time around I decided to vote. I don't think apathy or defeatism is the way to go about a wise and healthy life. A quote by one of my favorite bands helped me along with this thinking.  'People say, well, if they don't care, then why should I care?  I say, if I don't care, why should anyone care?'  I am taking that to heart. I'm definitely fired up about a few of the issues here in CA, and it's about time I started speaking my mind.  I don't want this to be a political issues blog, so I'll just say I am fed up with discrimination and closed-mindedness.  

That being said, time to get to the polls. It's an exciting feeling to be able to speak your mind about whatever issues you want and not be put in jail for it, like in some areas of the world. So, I am celebrating that fact by putting my opinion out there, be it right or wrong.

Anyway, this might be sounding a little preachy or something, even though I'm not trying to make it like that.  I might say 'anyway' too often. Oh well. Time to go.