Vote or die.

Remember that campaign slogan backed by P.Diddy?

Pastor Josh Patterson once said that to keep himself in check, to remind him that the world is broken and in need of a savior, he reads the news. This was around the time I went to Asia, so I thought this was an excellent idea.

But man, it is crazy to try and comprehend what is going on in the world.

One thing I’ve been thinking about lately is politics. I’ve never voted and have never cared to vote until I started to keep up with the international news.

First, the craziness in Pakistan. Months ago, I was aware of the unrest concerning the upcoming presidential elections and the state of emergency. And then Bhutto (a female politician in a Muslim state, a presidential candidate and previous prime minister) was assassinated??? Then more crazy riots?

And tonight, I finally read up on Kenya and the craziness there. Corrupt presidential elections causing the whole country to riot as well? The opposition party not willing to back off, fueling fights between two tribes represented by each party? Several hundreds of people killed because of an election?

I remember the 2000 elections when W. barely won over Gore. Something about Florida being dumb and Gore fighting back a little. But I don’t remember riots. I don’t remember assassinations or hundreds of people dying.

I don’t remember 70% of the country voting either.

It’s easy to chalk up the violence to something happening far away, maybe that these countries are uneducated and primitive. But they are not. At least Kenya isn’t. Apparently, it had been the most stable country in Africa, boasting a healthy economy. And their citizens knew this election would be important. Important enough for about 70% of the country to vote. And that was without any catchy P.Diddy slogans.

What is it about politics and government in these countries? Where do these citizens get this passion from? And where is mine? I don’t even know if I’m registered to vote… that’s how apathetic I’ve been.

So, while I ponder on the craziness of the world outside of Dallas, Texas, I’ve started to pay attention our own elections coming up. After all, the U.S. government not only affects me, but the countries I read about as well. CNN has an excellent summary of all the candidates - how they are doing in the race, what stance they have on key issues, etc. - and I realized tonight that maybe I find it hard to be passionate about our own government because we have so many candidates. And these candidates handle issues their own ways and some are even a bit “wishy-washy” about where they stand. On some of the hottest topics, it’s not uncommon for a candidate to oppose the issue, but wouldn’t mind letting the states take care of it. Almost like some kind of “I wash my hands of that whole deal” thing. Convenient.

In the midst of all this thinking, I did happen to watch a rerun of South Park’s 100th episode, aired back in 2003. The town was split between protesting against and for the war. Cartman time travels back to 1776 where he witnesses Ben Franklin saying “he believes they could become a country that could go to war, but at the same time also make it appear like we don’t want to go to war by allowing people to protest. ‘…an entire nation founded on saying one thing, and doing another.’”

Anyway, that’s the most I’ve ever said about politics and government. We’ll see if I figure out how to vote yet.