Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Political Thought

I do not generally write about politics (except perhaps Aristotle's Politics or the politics of education) but I thought today was a good moment to do so because of an article that I read this morning. For my little political moment for today I thought I would stand firmly behind the primary political belief of my mom's family: people should vote.

People on my mom's side of the family, or really on any side of my family, disagree on political matters. However, they always thought people should vote. My great-grandmother, against the strong wishes and recommendations of her husband, campaigned for women's suffrage. There is a beautiful set of letters between the two of them that demonstrate their feelings on the subject.

I was thus distressed by an article in the New York Times that said that women are less likely to vote in this election. It seems to me that women, who fought so hard less than a century ago to secure the vote in the first place should utilize this power. Even if the outcome does not go the way one might have hoped, participation in the political process is a necessary step for holding representatives accountable for their actions, both for rewarding those who fight for the right things and for attempting to curb the effects of those who might create problems.

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