After reading MZ Forrest’s post on political apathy I remembered something of days past.
If you are thinking of abstaining in the upcoming presidential elections (if you live in the U.S.) or any election at a local, state, or national level, think again. Think about Venezuela. Think about what has become of “The small Venice” (from which the name Venezuela comes from) in the past few years.
Hugo Chávez has won the presidential elections twice (or more? I lost count by now), because of the apathy of millions of Venezuelans. I still lived in Venezuela when Chávez was elected for the first time in 1999 when there was only a 30% turnout. The second (and third?) presidential election had a greater turnout, but by that time it was too late. Chávez’s rise to power did not happen from one day to another, but it was on the works for many years, because Venezuelans just did not care. I can’t remember that my parents or most of my family members ever voted in any election and that was very much the case for many families. And now, it is so different. After the exodus of over one million Venezuelans since 1999, the 25+ million Venezuelans who remained there value the power of democracy and freedom of speech, because now they do not have it in its entirety. Now they understand the duties we all have as responsible citizens.
Our political candidates may not be perfect and perhaps will never be. I have never voted, because I left Venezuela when I was 17 and for eight years now I have been desperately waiting for my U.S. citizenship, just to be able to exercise my right to vote. You really don’t value what you have until you lose it.
I will be the first one to express my doubts regarding the fairness of a liberal democracy, but this is what we have, and as citizens, we all have the responsibility “to create a society where it will be easier for men to be good” as Peter Maurin said.
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