Vote.

What if that’s all I wrote? “Vote” over and over and over again. Like sixty times. That would be pretty funny, right?

This is going to be a short post. Firstly because I didn’t plan anything to write—I wasn’t even sure I was going to talk about the election. Secondly because I believe that I’ve already said everything I’ve needed to say. I’ve talked about the issues; I’ve talked about the candidates; I’ve talked about SNL. What else is there to add?

So in my last blog before the election—an election that will make history—I just have one last thing to say.

Vote.

Vote because it’s your constitutional right, yes. But vote because you care about this country. Vote because that vote is your voice, and if you’re not utilizing your voice to push America towards greater change, then what are you using your voice for?

This election will make history because it will show, definitively, what kind of country we want to be. Will we go backwards, settling for the oppression of yore, the xenophobia, the bloody foundations of American history? Or will we go forward, foraging ahead and showing that we as a country are constantly striving for better, for brighter?

It’s easy to talk but it’s hard to take action. Do the hard thing; make your vote and your voice heard. Don’t just whine or complain or get up on your soapbox. Prove that you care. Go out tomorrow and vote.

I wrote an article for the Odyssey talking about how on Wednesday morning, we don’t know what kind of world to which we’ll be waking up. Make sure it’s the kind of world that we can be proud of. Where all kinds of people are respected and welcomed. America wasn’t built on a foundation of the few; it was built on this weird idea that you can come here to find a better life; to make something of it.

That’s an idea but one candidate will push us towards that idea. One candidate will shove us further into cosseted racism, xenophobia, and homophobia. Is that the kind of world you want to live in: a world of the few? A world where if you’re not born into a certain amount of privilege, you’re undeserving of ever bettering yourself or getting equal treatment.

Make your vote. Use your voice. It’s tacky and clichéd because it’s true and it’s painfully pure. There’s this idea that we need to protect; that we all belong here and we’re respected here. That idea is under a lot of duress right now. But your vote will help it.

Vote. Vote. Vote.