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OPINION — The following opinion editorial was submitted as a rebuttal to a letter to the editor published on St. George News last week — “It’s time to end the inequities in our democracy.”
For generations people have continually voted in politicians who make it a career for themselves, but we turn our eyes away from this fact and think after so many years in the top positions they must know what they are doing. If anything, I believe the For the People Act makes these politicians more unaccountable to us because we open the vote to those who are uninformed voters who recognize solely the names or the party they are affiliated to.
Please do not misunderstand. I speak not of undereducated people, but I speak of anyone who casts a vote not fully knowing the issues a candidate supports. You can find many instances in which potential voters (especially the young) are told quotes that come from one politician and they either condemn or agree to those statements only to find out it is from the side they support or oppose. You may view this for yourself, and here is one example. This happens for both sides of the aisle.
I believe money is not the root of all evil. If you are voting for a representative whose thoughts and actions can be changed for money, you may have voted for the wrong person. Money can corrupt those with weak will or morals but the right person will not bow before mounds of money when faced with doing what is right. I counter last week’s letter’s point that this will help us with our political system; I believe it will hurt us to open it up freely.
Here is a question for you to consider: Would you allow a person to drive your car with no knowledge of how to drive it? Would you hand the person your keys and tell them good luck? No! You would make sure they are educated first before allowing such a thing to happen. Even after being educated, it still is a risk, but a better risk than before. This is the same for voting. Only now it is not your car, it is your way of life, your rights and freedoms as a person in this beautiful country of ours. It only makes sense to first have an informed voting base and not a willy-nilly voting base! To open it up to everyone and make it have no requirements to enter is not only inadvisable, it’s unfathomable.
I agree that our political system is faulty, but if one truly believes our political system is faulty, then let us work to change the actual problem and not a symptom of the problem. Let us vote in the correct candidates who represent what we want. We all want one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Let us then educate those to appropriately vote for the candidates who will actually represent our needs and desires and not someone who can be easily influenced by money of any sort.
Submitted by QUINCY NEWBY, Washington County.
Letters to the Editor are not the product of St. George News, its editors, staff or news contributors. The matters stated and opinions given are the responsibility of the person submitting them. They do not reflect the product or opinion of St. George News and are given only light edit for technical style and formatting.