Over the past few centuries people from all walks of life, races and genders have fought and died for the right to vote in the United States of America.

While older generations and broadcasting entities like MTV continue to attempt to get more and more people to vote, it is the things that we are not allowed to vote for that has U.S. citizens in such an interesting position as a nation.

Of course, the position I am referring to is the nation’s continued involvement in the Middle East, which was started, perpetuated and fueled by the U.S. government’s inability to mind its own business.

If we went to Afghanistan to fight the war on terror, why did we move into Iraq? To stop Sadaam Hussein’s false chemical threat? Once there were no weapons of mass destruction discovered in Iraq, shouldn’t U.S. troops have gotten the hell out of there?

Or was it that the U.S. presence diminished the Iraqi land and government so horribly that they had to stay to attempt to piece the land back together?

We should be allowed to vote on whether or not we go to war against any nation or terrorist groups, especially groups like ISIS or ISL or the Islamic State Group or whatever these guys call themselves — a group that probably would not exist in its current form had America never invaded Iraq.

It was not a war on terror that Hussein may have been connected to, nor did he have nuclear bombs. He was simply targeted by the U.S. government, which then invaded his land and ultimately destroyed a nation.

Yes, he may have been an evil dictator, but is the world better after his death? Is our nation any safer from the threats of nuclear war or terror?

And the war on terror still wages on after the death of Osama bin Laden.

We need to fight for the right to vote on all major decisions concocted by presidents and their cabinets. We need to be the ones deciding whether or not we should send our children to war, because let’s face it, they are our children.

There will rarely, if ever, be a senator’s grandson, sent off to fight in Afghanistan as soon as he graduates high school. They don’t typically send their kids to war to fight — they try to send our children. Are we worthless? Or is it that there is no true accountability for those in U.S. government?
Until I am allowed the ability to vote “No” on a presidential candidate I refuse to participate. Until I can have a say in the major decisions that affect our nation, there is no point in voting.

Lots of people hated Bush because of the wars and famine, so they voted for “Change” with Obama. But there is a large majority of folks who are still broke and unemployed, and we are still at war as a nation.

This country’s voting system disregards the popular vote — making it possible that a candidate who receives a majority of votes is not elected to office. So why does my vote matter?
I vote no on voting until my vote does more than strip me of my rights. Because the vote is what got us to this point.