It’s that time of year again. Midterms are just around the corner, and you’re YouTube is probably being flagged with videos advertising candidates left and right. November 6th isn’t too far away, and already I can hear groans from the very back.

You’re probably sick of this by now. There’s so many reminders and ads telling people to vote. There are so many ads reminding you of midterms, you’d want to gouge your eyes out and roast them on an open fire.

Now, this voting season might be tiring or toxic to look at, but it’s important to pay attention here. We, the youth and elders alike, should VOTE. I hate to be your grandma here, but we need to VOTE.

But you may be asking a few questions. Why do we need to vote? Will our voice make that much of a dent considering the government we have now? Isn’t it better to boycott the midterms?

Okay, here’s the thing: these are valid concerns. From the way things are going, it does seem easier to just let midterms fall by the wayside. Why say something if no one seems to care? It would be easier to not vote at all. However, a wise headmaster wizard you may have heard of—cough, cough Albus Dumbledore—once said, “There comes a time where we need to choose what is right and what is easy.” And now is not the time to choose what is easy.

We need to let our voice be heard in the polls. We need to vote. Plain and simple. But we shouldn’t do it because our country is awful and broken. In fact, let’s take a closer look at what our country has been doing.       

Despite popular belief, the country we’re living in is great. For 242 years, we’ve lived as a union of states independent from Great Britain. We’re not perfect, not by any stretch, but that never stopped us from trying. We’ve achieved so much, and even now we continue to achieve. America is great; however, we can always find ways to make our country even better, and one of those ways is voting.

Think of what you look for in your ideal government. Have you ever wanted a few if not all those ideas come to fruition in some way or another? Well, by choosing who you want to be put in charge, you could have all your political dreams come true. There are politicians out there who share the same beliefs as you. You need to find them.

But that musical question always remains: why do people not vote? For some, the fact that there are so many candidates can be quite overwhelming. I drove by someone’s house one time to find there are a lot of signs encouraging me to vote for lots of people for lots of positions. So many people it’s enough to make your head spin.   

On top of that, as I mentioned before, the political ads not only flood the video-sharing platforms, but they’re also quite toxic. Most of the ads that appear on YouTube advertising is how Betsy Londrigan is unfit for Congress. And as a woman, it’s so disheartening to see that. It’s the same type of rhetoric that was in the 2016 presidential election and look how great that turned out. It would be great if people stopped doing that.         

And of course, there’s always the people who say, why should we care? What’s the worst that could happen if we don’t elect so-and-so? How could you say someone is great when they never got their pictures on bubblegum cards?

Well, Lucy Van Pelts, you may not realize it now, but voting IS important. It’s always been important. It makes our country function the way it is. It’s something we should all do as American citizens. Sure, it may seem like hard work, but that comes with anything you hold so dear. If you love it so much, you’d better be willing to work for it.

As the book of Ecclesiastes once said, there’s a time and place for everything. And now is not a time for standing down. Vote. Vote. VOTE!