As the New York primary elections draw near, voters are busy making up their minds about which candidate to support for president. This can be a difficult decision during one of the most contentious primaries in recent memory. Republicans are torn between Donald Trump and anyone not named Donald Trump, while Democrats are choosing between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton. But what voters will really be deciding on April 19 is the set of values that they want America to stand for.
America has long been considered the “greatest country on Earth,” but what are the qualifications for such a claim? For some, it’s the fact that we’re the wealthiest nation in the history of the world, while others point to our superior military power. While these factors might make us the “mightiest” country in the world, it certainly doesn’t make us the greatest.
America has grown so accustomed to its status as the world leader that many have stopped trying to improve. We’ve become lazy. According to the Bipartisan Policy Center, only an estimated 57.5 percent of eligible voters cast their ballots in the 2012 presidential election. These numbers drop even lower during off-year congressional elections, which are just as crucial as the presidential race. Because of this, incumbents are allowed to remain in office way past their expiration date and when this happens, politics become stagnant. The status quo is upheld and controlling interests tighten their grasp for another term.
This is evident when the Supreme Court upholds decisions like Citizens United. Citizens United allows unlimited campaign contributions by for-profit corporations, by way of super PACs. When corporations have no limit to what they can contribute to campaigns, it undermines a process crucial to the foundation of our democracy. How can politicians be expected to represent the people when they’re paid by special interest groups? It leads to Americans feeling disenfranchised, believing they have no say in the political process.
So are Americans disenfranchised, or are we complacent? The answer is a powerful mixture of both, a mixture that has created a crisis of conscience.
We’ve lost our identity. America is a country that has always welcomed outsiders — indeed, we are a nation of immigrants. Now, half of the country wants to build a border wall and turns its back on refugees in desperate need of a place to call home. We have a Republican frontrunner who claims that he “could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters.” The Democratic frontrunner is dealing with historically low favorability ratings, with 55 percent of the electorate viewing her unfavorably.
“The number-one reason that her favorability is so bad is that you have large numbers of Americans who say they don’t trust her,” said Democratic strategist Brad Bannon. “Voters see her as the ultimate politician, who will do or say anything to get elected.”
Is this the best that we can do? A hateful man and a snake in the grass? We need to come together as Americans and figure out what kind of country we want to be.
We can be a violent, fearful people — shutting our doors to immigrants — or we can catch up with the rest of the world by providing our citizens with rights like affordable, quality education and health care.
So please, take a good look at the candidates and on April 19, vote with your conscience.
Woodson Mozer is a senior majoring in English.