Guest post from Ms. Beasley: use your right to choose.

In wake of the “occupy” movement and with the 2012 elections coming up fast, I felt compelled to reach out and encourage my fellow Americans in Generation Y to get involved. The goal is not to impose my political views on anyone, but just to persuade everyone to at least have political views. Our generation has earned itself a bad reputation for feeling entitled. There is a severe lack of appreciation for what our government has done over the last 250 or so years that has given us the ability to live the way we do. Many of you who read this article are women.

Thousands and thousands of women fought for over 100 years in the U.S. to give us the right to vote. It was not until the 19th amendment was ratified by the states in 1920 that federal law banned gender-based restrictions on voting. This means that some of our great-grandmothers were arrested during the suffragette movement for the simple fact that they wanted to be able to participate in the election of our leaders. It wasn’t until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that literacy tests and other tactics to keep African American’s and other races out of the voting booths were banned. Tens of thousands of people have lost their lives in the Middle East and Africa just in the past couple of years to be able to have rights that we take for granted, especially the right to choose the leaders or their country.

Now, I know that government and politics in general has been catching a lot of flack lately. In my opinion this is because the government has lost respect for the opinions of the American people and has had Corporations pushing their ideas while Americans just sit back and assume everything will be taken care of. Recent years have made it clear that we can no longer sit back and let Corporations choose the laws in this country.

I recommend make a list of your “non-negotiables” when it comes to government; whether it be lower taxes, better funding for education, better benefits for our veterans, entitlement reform, abortion, whatever. Take this list and do some research on the different candidates, not just for president, but also for seats in the house and senate. Ignorance is not bliss when it comes to choosing our next leader. I went to my second political rally of this election year for a presidential candidate Friday night. It was a candidate who lacks almost all of my “non-negotiables”, but as they always say keep your friends close and your enemies closer. I think it is important to know where all candidates stand and to keep an open mind. If we do not hold our elected officials to a higher standard then how can we expect the governing of this country to improve? Please take a few moments out of your privileged life that others have fought for and become informed!

Also, I would like to recommend the use of multiple media sources for research because as we know none of them are “fair and balanced”. I am not going to tell you who to vote for.
All I am asking you to do is show some respect to our ancestors who fought for our freedom and the right to choose.

Megan Beasley