If I could vote…

   If I could vote. If I could vote, would my vote change the outcome of the election? If I could vote, would things really be different? No.

   Even though my contribution would not flip the election results, it would change how I feel. As a 16 year old, it is difficult to see, hear, and learn about the problems of our world, but not be able to make real change. 

   If I could vote, I would not have to sit around and watch others decide what my rights will be. I would not have to hear people talk about how my body should be controlled. I would not have to watch members of the LGBTQIA+ community fear for their rights being taken away, only five years after marriage equality was granted. 

   I would not have to worry about police brutality and systematic racism worsening because of the sheer arrogance of the president and current administration. I would not have to worry that soon I will not have a planet to live on. 

   Never in my life have I wished I could vote so badly. I am at the age where I am fairly knowledgeable on the politics of our country, whether I like it or not. I see it on the news everyday, I see the injustice going on in our country. 

   Equality has been turned into a political issue. Basic human rights have been turned into an issue debated among by politicians and argued about by family members at Thanksgiving. 

   Should same sex marriage be allowed? Should women get to decide what to do with their own bodies? Should Americans get basic human rights? 

   People are voting to decide who can get basic human rights; who can love who, who can sleep in their own home without being shot by police, who can make decisions about their own body. 

   People are voting like we will have a planet to live on in fifty years. People are voting like science does not matter. Like this virus will just stop eventually without destroying everything in its path. Like the Earth will magically cool down. People are voting like science does not matter, when that is the only constant. 

   Science is facts, data that has been tested and retested without political interference. Yet it has been turned into yet another political issue, something you can believe in or not believe in. Something that may be taken into consideration, but will most likely be ignored by Americans and politicians. 

   Some people are voting to ignore science, to ignore the complaints of millions of Americans, to ignore the systematic problems of this country. People are voting without the knowledge of the issues, or even worse, with blatant ignorance. 

   If I could vote, I would feel like I was making a difference. If I could vote, I would not be sitting idly by while others decide what my rights will be. If I could vote, I would vote for science, equality, and love. 

   If I could vote, I would.