An Ode to Voting

Today is the Canadian federal election. I voted without disillusionment. Why? Because it doesn't really matter who wins. I know I exercised by democratic right and upheld my duty as a citizen to vote. Yes, that's right, I said that voting is a responsibility. Modern democracies grant rights and freedoms to its citizens, but it also ask for those citizens to participate in the process, otherwise it's not really a democracy. We, as the people, are supposed to tell the government how to act and we tell them with our votes (well, we actually tell them more when we organize/join/reject campaings, but not everyone has the time to do that). The government isn't supposed to follow the will of individuals, but the will of the people. And if the people don't want to engage the political process, then the government will ignore the will of the people and listen only to those who take the time to engage. The system isn't perfect, mostly because groups of people never are. There are problems, but you deal with them and continue. I play only a small role in the political process as I choose only to listen and then vote. I wish more people play this role because that would lead to more people playing larger roles. I'm idealizing a bit here, but the point I'm trying to make is that I only do the bare minimum of my civic responsibility. I'm not out there trying to change the world, and so I can't complain when my point of view isn't public policy.