Election Day in Chile.

A week ago on Sunday was election day in Chile, and once again I am learning a valuable lesson from my study abroad experience. One being this... I will never again take my right to vote for granted. Not that it is an issue here; in fact everyone can vote from the age of 18. However, this was the second election in Chile that was non-obligatory (previously there had been a law requiring everyone to vote). They installed this law hoping to make the voting system more simple for people (they can now go to any booth to vote), but it actually has only made it so that a huge amount of the population doesn't go vote. Not only this, but voting is all on paper and some people use the paper to write "AC" instead of voting. "AC" stands for Asamblea Constituyente, which is a movement that wants the government to change the current constitution that is in place, because it's the constitution that was put into place by Pinochet (Chile's dictator that was voted out of government). The process of amending the constitution won't likely happen, but the people used their vote to voice that opinion, which means those votes went to waste.

At least they chose to use their voice for something, whereas a huge amount of voters chose to vote for the little candidates who won't win. They didn't do this because they want the little guys to win, but instead because they wanted it to be a sign of protest. The amount of people that did this was more than the amount of people who voted for the leading candidate. Meaning that more people are "protesting", than legitimately voting.

Speaking of protesting... it's the favorite activity of much of the youth here in Chile. But their generation is also the least likely to show up on election day. The protests usually don't give them the results that they want, and it's because they don't even show that they are serious enough to exercise their right to vote.

Now I do not mean to be so critical of Chile and their people, because I believe that the United States has many of the same problems when it comes to people taking advantage of living in democracy. I am mostly using this to reflect on myself, and the type of citizen that I want to be in the States. I want to be the citizen that votes for what she truly believes in, and I want to be EDUCATED about it. So many people go into the booths not really knowing what they are voting for, where policies or politicians are coming from, and what purpose it will serve. There used to be a time when people actually did research and worked hard to properly exercise their right to vote. Voting wasn't a hassle or nuisance, but instead an opportunity to take part in politics even if you weren't a politician, and a great time to make your voice heard in the country. I want to be serious about sitting down, and taking the time to understand what I am voting for.

This isn't just a civil duty, but it is a Christian one as well. Jesus asked us to stay here and help our brothers and sisters while we wait for his return. We are called to be IN the world, but not OF the world. Many people use this as an excuse to ignore politics. "This isn't my real home anyway, so why do I need to participate?". This is a wrong attitude. While we are in this world we are called to be Christ to others, and that includes making out voices heard in the political realm. Now, you don't have to shout out to the world that you are "Voting for Jesus!", but just use the reasonable mind God gave you to apply the Christian principles you've come to believe and apply them to the political realm. It's practical, yet takes some work to do. But you can expect me to be this kind of citizen from now on.

Now that some of you (Mom) are gagging from the political talk, I will say ciao! :) It's 3 weeks by the way till I'm home.