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Show THE "AMERICAN WAY THOSE MILLIONS fet OF SLACKERS 3&J' , mm By Georg P-n-i ij Let me say right quickly that this article is not addressed to you, gentle reader. Full well I know that you are one of those good citizens who goes to the polls at each election to exercise your American privilege of voting vot-ing for candidates of your own selection. You fully appreciate just how fortunate you are to be a citizen of a country which affords af-fords you the sacred right of the secret ballot. Rather, this article is directed to the many American citizens who, eligible and qualified to vote, failed to do so last November No-vember 2. Estimates vary as to just how many of these slackers there were, but roughly just about half "Seen their duty and done it." Yes, I can hear yau mutter that you just cannot understand un-derstand the ingratitude of the other half to those salwarts who offered up their lives (many of them gave) to secure for all Americans this precious right to vote. Undoubtedly, a few of these non-voters had a legitimate excuse, ex-cuse, but most of them simply were shirking their duty as good citizens. Yet, these indifferent citizens, when confronted . with their delinquency,, say "What good could my little vote have been among so many millions?" That is a hollow excuse in fact, no excuse at all. It reflects selfishness as well as laziness on the part of the person who offers such an alibi. Imagine what would happen to this nation if all adopted that same laissez-faire attitude! America would be taken tak-en over bodily to be exploited by selfish interests. It, also, demonstrates a loeful ignorance of America's political history. For example, in one National Na-tional election, the vote in New York State decided the election and the President-elect carried the Empire State by only 1,149 votes. It is rather a paradox that the most caustic critics of elected legislators leg-islators and officials are generally general-ly the very citizens who hadn't shown enough interest to vote when the objects of their spleen were candidates for election, So, what to do about these millions of shirkers? Our responsibility respon-sibility really doesn't end with casting our own votes. We must see to it that the other fellow likewise performs his sacred and patriotic duty. Numerous suggestions" -have been made for legislation to punish eligible voters who do not exercise their franchise. This would entail compulsion and force is not compatible with the American Way of doing things we have learned that you definitely cannot legislate a sense of civic responsibility into any human being. There have been alternate suggestions sug-gestions of meting out rewards to those who do vote, one of which would be to give the voting vot-ing citizen a reduction in hi? income tax. But, what good citizen citi-zen seeks a monetary reward for simply doing- his duty? No, the things for us to do is to shame these slackers into a sense of their responsibility. First of all, we must get them to register. Failure to register is perhaps the greatest contributing factor to not voting. Then having prevailed upon them to register. and their- having hav-ing discovered it is not a painful ordeal, that no dire disaster befalls be-falls the good citizen who does his civic duty, when Election Day rolls around, it is a pretty safe bet that they'll go to the polls to register their votes, without coaxing, coercion, or promise of a monetary reward, and entirely on their own steam and of their own volition. |