Earn the Right to Complain

            This week, as I cast my vote for my provincial elections at an early polling station, I was asked if this was my first time voting. Amused, I replied that it wasn’t, and assured the questioner that I’m somewhat older than I look. But, then I reflected on it and realized that, while I’ve voted in the last few federal elections, this may actually be my first time voting in a provincial one.

            Looking back, I distinctly remember not caring at all when I was first old enough to vote. I didn’t see what good it would do – I was only one person, after all, and, quite frankly, I didn’t care what the government did. I didn’t feel that who was elected to government had any direct impact on my life. So, I didn’t vote.

            I think it’s a major failing in our education system that we don’t teach people the importance of voting – at least, not in a way that sticks or that they care about. I did have a mandatory Civics course that lasted half a semester where we were taught how to vote and given the basics on the structure of the government, but I don’t recall being taught the why of any of it. Admittedly it may have been because I lacked interest and none of what I was taught stuck, but young people not voting seems far too common a thing for it to have been just me.

            So, it falls to parents to educate their children on voting, which is a catastrophe on its own. Some people don’t vote because they don’t care and don’t think it matters, while others vote for the same party every time because that’s what’s “done”, and others believe people should choose for themselves and avoid talking about it at all. It’s made all the more difficult because talking about politics is considered a taboo subject.

            It’s fair to say that I picked up my parents’ political leanings, even though it wasn’t a major topic in my house. Even so, it was because I agreed with their views, not because I was blindly following. When I chose not to vote in that first election I was eligible to vote in, they respected my decision – though they reiterated the one idea that had been present all my life: If you don’t vote, you don’t get to complain about the government.

            It’s a very simple idea, yet powerful. It taught me the idea that you have to earn your right to complain about the government by voting, because if you didn’t vote, you obviously didn’t care enough, so it’s your own fault. You may not feel like one vote in a pool of thousands, or millions, counts for much, but if you didn’t cast your vote into that pool, you didn’t partake in the system and, thus, have no right to complain.

            Still, I didn’t vote. Not until a government came into power that started doing things I disagreed with – a government whose every decision seemed to fly in the face of what it meant to be Canadian and that was dragging the international name of Canada through the mud. But, as I saw this, I realized that I couldn’t complain about it. I hadn’t voted, and so I had no right to complain. But the very next federal election, I did vote. The same government ended up in power, but at least this time I felt I had done what I could to fight against it. I had earned my right to complain about what they did.

            So, today’s lesson is: vote. It doesn’t matter if you think who you vote for will win or not, the important part is to make your voice heard, however small it may be. Be it in this election, or any other election to come, anywhere in the world, vote. Vote, or be prepared to remain silent and live with the decisions made by others.

            Earn your right to complain.

Check out my YouTube channel where I tell the stories of my D&D campaigns.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

Also, make sure you check out my wife's blog and her website.


If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Hindrance or Help?

            Finding a weekly topic to blog about is often difficult, but I’m finding this week to be a particular challenge. This is because I know that I’m going to end up talking about the exact subject I don’t want to, no matter how hard I try to avoid it. So, I’m just going to save myself the effort and dive right into it.

            I’m sad to say that I’m not surprised by the results of the US election. Disappointed, yes, but not surprised. Electoral systems may have started out decent, with good intent, but they weren’t designed for the world we live in today. Back when the US was founded, the population was around 2.5 million. It’s far easier to convey information to that many people, and to take a vote on their opinions, than it is with the 127 times that population of today.

            Yet, the problem runs deeper than that. Beyond being outdated, the system has become tainted – turned into a manipulative game to see who can influence the voters the most. As I was watching part of the election, the commentators kept talking about all the research and strategies that go into “flipping” key voting regions. It’s more than just that – it’s a psychological game to suppress voters who favor the opposite side, either by convincing them that they don’t have a chance, or by convincing them that their win is assured so they needn’t bother voting.

            This is all made possible by the vast amount of information we have – studies of previous voting trends, psychology, and the certainty that most people will vote for the same party, no matter what. Yet, we still consider this a democracy.

            In my opinion, it isn’t. It’s like the professional level of the game Starcraft. This is a war strategy game that has been taken to a whole new level. The people who play it are amazing – they develop strategies, perfect them, then pit them against each other. They time themselves and their routines, figuring out the most efficient ways to spend their resources and build an army to outdo their opponents. They must constantly balance between micro (controlling their units) and macro (managing their base and producing their army) because if one falters, they lose. The players are so fast and need such precision that someone hitting a key one second late can cost them the war.

            At that level of game play, I no longer call it a game. I’ll accept it as an e-sport, but a game is played for fun and I don’t see the amount of training needed to play that game at high-level as fun. Just as a democracy where the candidates have to put on a show to manipulate voters, rather than earning them based on what they plan to do for the country, is no longer a democracy.

            Every election I’ve seen has become something that should be illegal – it becomes a contest to see which candidate can do a better job of dragging the other through the mud. In the end, that’s all that matters. Who are the people more afraid of having in charge of the country?

            With this election, it should have been obvious. It was obvious, as far as anyone could tell. That is, perhaps, why almost half the people registered to vote didn’t. They thought it was a sure thing, so they weren’t needed.

            Here in Canada, we’re pushing for electoral reform to fix this very problem – to make votes actually count in elections. To take away the numbers game of winning certain constituencies to win the election. To bring back democracy.

            The problem in the US right now is that what’s done is done. All the world can do is wait and hope. We can hope that some of the electorates will vote against their party. Failing that, we can hope for impeachment. Or we can hope that the new president was putting on a show and really isn’t as horrible as he seems – although this, unfortunately, will not put an end to the rash of bigotry his campaign has deemed acceptable.

            It may seem like it’s not my place, being Canadian, to criticize US politics – but the problems have reached us here, too. The results of this election are not limited to the US. The world is at a critical place right now and needs strong, responsible leadership from all the leading countries. Will the US help or hinder in the coming years?

            We can only hope for help.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

Also, make sure you check out my wife's blog and her life coaching website.


If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.