#amethystflame

Yes, we need hugs. We need lots and lots of hugs.

*hugs you long and tight with comforting backrubs*

I’m sorry your political system is poop

I*m sorry your democracy is going down the drain because your political parties care more about grabbing power than actual governing

I’m sorry your political elites, and your society alongside them, have become so polarized and mired in ideology and indiscriminate factionalism that they forgot that compromising and negotiation are the key functions of governance, especially if that governance purports to be democratic and representative of a pluralistic society

I’m sorry you have to live in a society that takes its democracy and the rights that entails for granted and therefore doesn’t value them

I’m sorry you have to share your nation with people who see that slobbering shouty malignant orange tumor and say to themselves ‘yes this is a person of substance and integrity this is someone trustworthy’ when literally the only times that brainless glob has opened his mouth without lies coming out of it has been while inadevertently admitting to actual capital crimes

I’m sorry your media has in large parts failed you, has failed to educate you on the issues at hand, has failed to be impartial, has failed to fulfill its designated role as the watchdog of the powerful, has failed to call out, to discuss and inform with integrity, has become fearful and cowardly, has been pandering with sensationalism instead of providing substance

wow this got long...

I’m not usually political on here, but the way things stand I am actually legitimately concerned because, frankly, I could do without living through another world war, even if this time around for once my people and my country won’t be the ones to start it

so basically, what I’m trying to say is this: 

Democracy is hard work. Democracy requires continued effort. It requires each and every one of its citizends to be mindful not only of themselves, but of the whole of their society. It requires you to be responsible with the power you hold, to constantly inform yourself about the issues at hand. It requires the perpetual acknowledgement of the fact that your rights as a citizen are also a responsibility, both to yourself and to the society you live in, to never stop scrutinizing, never stop engaging, never stop assessing (this means yourself as well as others, especially when they stand for office with the goal to represent you). It is the basis of your freedom, a freedom that our ancestors fought and too often died for, be it as medieval peasants rising up in revolt, chartists, fighting wars of independence, revolutionaries who ended dynasties stretching back centuries, be it as exiles of oppressive regimes, or resistance fighters to those same, be it as 48ers, suffragettes or civil rights activists, to name but very few from the top of my head. 

Voting is just one element of this responsibility you have to yourself if your freedom has any worth to you, if you have any appreciation at all for your right of self-determination. Casting your vote is but one part of making democracy work (and your vote only counts if you actually do cast it); it doesn’t stop there. And remember that the officials you elect to represent you work for you and are accountable to you, not the other way around.