Michael Kubacki made some great points in his Sunday letter to the editor on voting, and while I wholeheartedly agree with the premise that “the most sacred right of our citizens is to be left alone if they chose not to participate in politics,” I believe that the conclusions he draws are shortsighted and potentially harmful to the very people he is championing.
Yes, our mayor and other politicians may very well be cynically advocating for a higher voter turnout simply because they think it will help them or their party on Election Day. But two things can be true at the same time. It still remains the case that if we want to protect the very rights we cherish under our Constitution (freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the right of self-defense, etc.) — which in a real way can be summed up as the right to be left alone by the government — it is incumbent upon each of us and deeply in our self interest to make sure we are educated on the issues of the day,as well as the people running for office. And it is then incumbent on us to vote so we make sure that we can continue to live in a society where we can continue to be “left alone” if we so choose.
I want the same things as Mr. Kubacki. But believe that if we take his path it will destroy those very conditions that make those things possible.
