Small Steps toward Making a Difference in Our Country

This blog post was inspired by:

Clown set for Brazil's Congress after passing literacy test (CNN, December 1, 2010)

Ignorance is a burden on society…

For the country of Brazil to elect Tiririca the clown to enter Brazilian congress, there is a lot of nothing going on concerning the political awareness of the society. Since it is mandatory by law for all Brazilian citizens that are of age to vote, many vote for a name that seems familiar to them. These votes are not necessarily going toward the best candidate of choice or even the candidate these voters would be in agreement with if they would inform themselves prior to voting.

Unfortunately, this is not a problem only facing the country of Brazil. Although it is not mandatory to vote here in the U.S., many voters vote out of ignorance, not knowing much of anything about any candidates running in the election. 

Serious consequences come out of placing the wrong people as leaders of a country. 

Some questions I would like “INSIGHT” on: 

What can be done to minimize this problem?

Should taking an examination be mandatory regarding each candidate prior to voting?

Should the voting process stay the same?

Should voting in Brazil be optional, like it is here in the U.S., or is the approach Brazil is taking to get the entire country to vote a more correct stance on making political decisions?

Many opinions will arise, but the ideal desire is to confide that each citizen will take it upon themselves to make educated decisions for the better of their country. Disappointingly, since we cannot depend on this as a true statement, I would like to make a proposal, and I hope it will be used intensely.

Instead of the government battling within themselves for power between parties, they should be more concerned with what the people feel is best for their country. To do so, advertisements around the time of elections should be organized to motivate the people to educate themselves on ALL candidates prior to voting. The advertisements should strongly push that there are negative consequences that amount from making decisions out of ignorance. If necessary, give an example such as Tiririca the clown entering Brazilian congress.  We can laugh now, but we will surely be upset later when the damage is done. As a country we will all reap from those consequences if we do not familiarize ourselves with those we elect as our leaders. After all, they will be the chosen to guide the direction of the future of our country. Choosing our leaders is of the utmost importance that is not taken as seriously across the board as it should be.

I believe that by pushing voters to better themselves through gathering “Insight”, not only will there be a pattern of change in how the country views making voting decisions, but this will also lead underdeveloped countries in their journey to development.

Ideally, there will be no more cycles of corrupt politicians advertising empty promises. No more disappointments in those whom we have placed as our leaders. There will also be an increase in the overall patriotism of the country. Wouldn’t that be nice?