Monday, October 20, 2008

A decision

When it comes to decision making, I am the last person one should contact. The number of "I guess"es you will hear in the conversation will leave you more flustered than before. Having said that, what happens when I find myself in such a situation? One such situation being the upcoming elections on the 4th of next month. One of the hardest things a voter is faced with is making the "right" choice. A very subjective right choice, but nonetheless, a right choice in the bigger frontier. I would like to believe that my thinking has changed from when I was 18 and voted that year (the 2004 elections), but then again with what guarantee. In short, I am faced with a decision to make on the 4th of November.

As we all are aware, the election hoopla started as early as Nov 06, so early that people took a step back to think as to when the elections were in reality. Over the past year and a half, we've seen everything in the political scenario- none that we are unfamiliar with. I myself have been a part of this chaos, attending campaign visits made by Barack Obama, and Bill Clinton, and quite recently, listening to all the debates.

You go into these things with a clear mind, until you have a conversation with someone opposing you and forcing you to question your own views. What happens then? You know you are wavering in your understanding, but how sternly can you stand your ground? I can get convinced easily, usually not on issues like these, but yes, I start to waver a little. I could blame it on the two party system in the US, urging for a need for moderacy, but who's listening? So I vote. I vote to make myself heard, however, with a catch in my head. Would it have been better off me not voting, rather than jeopardizing the decision? The Swing Voters' Curse is a paper that talks about how undecided voters should abstain from voting. I wouldn't consider myself undecided but a little confused (Wonder what's different). November 4th, I will make a decision, a decision that we'll have to stick with for at least four years.

In the broader prospect of it all, its great when someone else makes the decision for you, but oh well I am sure I will have a post to write about when that is the case.


Thank you Terezia for this