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University of Texas at El Paso DigitalCommons@UTEP The rP ospector Special Collections Department 10-11-2016 The rP ospector, October 11, 2016 UTEP Student Publications Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.utep.edu/prospector Part of the Journalism Studies Commons, and the Mass Communication Commons Comments: This file is rather large, with many images, so it may take a few minutes to download. Please be patient. Recommended Citation UTEP Student Publications, "The rP ospector, October 11, 2016" (2016). The Prospector. Paper 259. http://digitalcommons.utep.edu/prospector/259 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Special Collections Department at DigitalCommons@UTEP. It has been accepted for inclusion in The rP ospector by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@UTEP. For more information, please contact [email protected]. PAGE 2 OCTOBER 11, 2016 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OPINION MICHAELA ROMÁN, 747-7477 Don’t vote; Organize BY CHRISTIAN VASQUEZ for you so you can relax after a hard day’s work, which is under- The Prospector standable, but understanding why ere is a you do nothing except vote once phrase that gets every four years changes nothing. tossed around: When you vote, you are saying, “If you don’t vote, “Here, you solve this problem.” By you have no right voting, the individual falls under to complain.” But the illusion that their contribu- what if I don’t like tion to maintaining society is fin- the candidates? ished. The power to solve poverty, Or if I think the president’s office to help the environment, to build has too much power? Not voting better infrastructure is still within can be just as great a political state- the masses. But the illusion is that ment as voting. It also assumes that the politician is the only one who voting is the one-and-only political can fix it. act to create change in the world. Don’t get me wrong, if you simply Take this election for example. If don’t vote, then even less is going you don’t want the racist capitalist to change. If you want to do noth- Republican candidate, the militant ing but play video games all day capitalist Democratic candidate, and watch Netflix, then for god’s confused capitalist Libertarian sake at least vote. candidate or the anti-wifi capital- But if you are tired of voting for ist Green Party candidate, then are the slightly left or slightly right you supposed to write in a candi- candidate, then quit wasting your date that literally has no chance of time memorizing campaign prom- winning? Then can we complain? ises that won’t be accomplished. Go Did racism end because we voted out into your community and meet Obama in office? Will sexism end people who care about the same because Clinton gets elected? If problems you do, organize and cre- JASON URRUTIA / THE PROSPECTOR Sanders somehow managed to get ate the world you want to live in. elected will poverty disappear? The illusion of the politician is Let’s say there were 100,000 of that it is the single person who these protest votes who are dissatis- creates change—it isn’t. It’s the Vote before there are only two options fied for whatever reason. It’ll make administration and infrastructure the news alright, and some talking behind the politician, it is the de- BY ERIC VASQUEZ wrong in the world and who the heck of politeness. I guess talking about can x it. Clinton’s foreign policy doesn’t make heads might discuss what strategies partments, the committees and The Prospector politicians can use to gain those the multitude of people behind Let’s get bigger. At the beginning of people want to take shots. votes in the next election. each political decision that creates I’m going to tell this year we had a gallery full of talk- Dialogue makes a dierence, be- Now let’s take those same our society. you to vote, tell you ing meatbags vying to be president. lieve it or not. I don’t know who 100,000 people and put them in Tired of getting paid barely how voting is your Now we have two. One is bringing dropped the hammer on politics be- front of the White House. What enough to eat? Go on strike. You civic duty and that lynching back in style and the other ing a sensitive subject to talk about will be the impact then? A state- don’t want a pipeline destroying in some countries a might live o the souls of foreign (maybe because it actually matters?) ment from the current president your only water source? Then get citizen’s civic duty children. Not anything new every but it just cannot be said that the and calm words ultimately sig- in the way of those machines. You is to agree with the election features two candidates with conversation goes nowhere. I don’t nifying nothing. Sitting around want fresh produce at a reasonable government or die. Hell, I may even their own terror to them. However, know how “Stranger ings” got so creates headlines but does not ac- price? Start guerilla gardening, tell you how your vote counts aer it is a lot scarier when we choose to popular other than from the fans complish much, look at Occupy find an empty lot and claim it for all that your individual preference have no say in what two candidates proclaiming that people needed to Wallstreet for a recent example. your neighborhood. of president, out of the 318.9 million end up being on the table. watch it. I’ve heard more heated dis- Or, let’s take those 100,000 peo- The illusion of power leaves us Americans, can change the tides. It To not take action in our presiden- cussions about “Breaking Bad” than ple and put them in a single city. feeling powerless. That hope for can, really, mathematically. tial candidates early, like volunteer- Hilary’s secret emails. What can they accomplish then? change every four years that may But, like math, you already kind ing for their campaign or even doing So vote. Take part of the elec- That number can lead to immedi- or may not materialize, and any of knew all this, at least in a ghostly, your own research on them, is to sit tion on Nov. 8. Wear the “I Voted” ate change in the way the city oper- change that comes about has a intangible, “yeah, fractions are de- at a table, ignore the menu and be sticker. But arrive to the polls with ates on a day-to-day basis in a way chance to recede once the next pol- nitely a thing somehow” kind of way, outraged when the waiter brings out a condence that says that we uti- that cannot be matched by voting itician is lined up. so I won’t waste your time like you a turd sandwich or a giant douche lized our technology—the ones that for a mayor that promises 10 things This is not to say voting as a con- will be on Nov. 8 if, at this point, you soup as the entrée. can change our faces to puppies and but logistically can only accom- cept is bad. It’s a great way to de- have done nothing more than read Responsible, educational voting is let us download e Beatles anthol- plish four. mocratize our social order. But the pro-Trump or pro-Hilary tweets getting up from the table and ask- ogy—to make an informed decision Voting necessarily gives the col- problems of our political system while pooping. ing who the hell keeps serving turd about our future. lective power of the people to a sin- are deeper than a simple vote for Voting is your civic duty, our sandwiches for dinner and xing our That kind of confidence changes gle person. When you vote, you are the center-left or the center-right civic duty, but it means a universe own meal. the distrust in our political system telling another person to make the can accomplish. Political change more than standing in line at our Maybe we don’t have time to volun- to confidence, if not a confidence decisions that affects your commu- is not a series of products that you old elementary school, thinking teer for your candidate’s campaign, I that a dedicated involvement in nity. You give up your power to cre- can buy. If Coke doesn’t work you about how small the lockers are get that, but when we believe in our our government can result in a ate change to someone else. can try Pepsi, and if Sprite doesn’t before pressing a button before go- candidates then at the very least let’s better country, then a confidence So let me change up that quote work try 7-Up. You might as well ing home. It means educating our- be OK with having a dialogue talk that says “I don’t like this, so I’m at the beginning a bit. “If you vote, flip a coin. selves, taking it upon ourselves to about them. Screw manners, screw going to be president.” you have no right to complain.” So when people say “voting is the dig into these candidates and pull being politically correct. Get in an By the way, in some countries, a You chose to give up the endless least you can do,” take it literally. from sources outside of our web argument, feel good when you win it, citizen’s civic duty involves agree- possibilities of direct action to let It’s the very least a person can do.

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