How Should I Vote?

“How should I vote? Who should I vote for?” Most have no problem hearing the opinion of those who have already made their decision. Many of us would like to hear less from them. After all the mind-numbing political ads on television, the pundits who wax eloquently about the beauty and correctness of their own expertise, and Uncle Bozo’s fist pounding rants on the family dinner table about the scurrilous background of candidate “A,” there are still quite a number of people who have not decided for whom to vote. That is evidenced by the number of internet searches on October 31, 2012 using the keywords: “How should I vote?” (1,930,000,000) and “Who should I vote for?” (609,000,000).

The election is a few days away. The option of not voting should not be considered by any educated citizens. I include “educated” as a qualifying descriptor since public schools were started to educate the electorate. In Length of Days - The Age of Silence voting has become a thing of the foggy past. Most people have never even heard of the privilage. The hard part is: 1) making a decision and then 2) feeling secure in that decision once it’s made.

Who should I vote for?

To determine who to vote for one might gather their information into several political topics. Broad areas of concern will differ from person to person. Each one knows what is important to them. These suggestions might prompt others based on personal interests.

Personal Needs: Will who I vote for make a positive difference in my personal life?  Will I be better able to find a job based upon the candidate’s proposed budget and/or financial plan? Will my job be adequate to meet my needs, to educate my children, cloth, provide a safe home and have a little money left over to visit Grandma and Grandpa in the summer? Will my children and grandchildren have a better life because of my single vote on Tuesday?

Christiana Applewait, even though a Legacy Citizen, had a very personal reason to want the government totally changed. Her grandparents, two of the Council of Twelve, are almost at their end of their length of days. She had to find an answer.

Community Development: Will one vote elect someone who can get the paper plant open again so our neighbors can find good paying jobs? Will the church be able to put a Holy scene in the yard? Can the children of the community receive a good education in the local schools?

For Christiana, her goal was that the people, her neighbors and friends, would be free from the chemicals that dulled their emotions and drive.

Country Security: Will “my” president keep our country safe from those who would harm us? Will he make sure our debts are paid and we are free to be free? Will he encourage freedom of speech, free from political correctness and full of truth? Will he be honest, open, and transparent? 

Christiana knew that the system had become so corrupt, the people must be kept safe from their own government.

How are decisions made? After the areas of concern are identified, a decision must be made. In order to make a wise choice, there is a process that is often helpful. In Personality Type Theory, such as in the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, psychological differences are separated into two dichotomies or four opposite pairs. They help us see how people take in information and then how they make decisions about that information. However, we are usually only good at one of the four abilities, a little less talented in a second, out of touch with the third, and blind to the fourth. To make a decision, learn: “What I do not do naturally, I must deliberately do.”

The Decision Making Process

Now we begin. If one is a perceptive type, they enjoy gathering information and never get around to a conclusion. If one is a judging type, they gather a few pieces of data and rush off to make their decision based on inadequate information.

In an organization, a good conclusion can be found by using a model similar to Type Theory. None of these ideas were still in place in 2112, Christiana's era. Let us keep them alive. The decision making process is considered in four steps:

Gather information (Sensing) . . . Brain storm about those facts (Intuition) . . . Use reality to decide among the most plausible possibilities (Thinking) . . . Then decide if the decision will hurt anyone (Feelings). In an attempt to determine for whom to vote, we don’t need a committee. However, without others to bring their strongest abilities at decision making to the table, we must practice wise choices on our own.

After the urgent topics have been identified, now we begin. If one is a perceptive type, they enjoy gathering information and never get around to a conclusion. If one is a judging type, they gather a few pieces of data and rush off to make their decision based on inadequate information.

First gather all the information about each of your topics as can be found. If one tends to make quick judgments, when all of the data necessary to decide has been gathered, find at least twelve more points to consider. If one loves researching and two milk crates have already been filled with related articles and facts, it is probably time to stop gathering and move on to the next stage.

Next brainstorm about all the pieces of information one has gathered. Find as many possibilities one can conclude about the data. There are no right or wrong answers at this point, only ideas, plausible or not. For those who tend to be concrete and unable to opening brainstorm, get silly. Ask a twelve year old what might happen if this or that decision is made. Shoot the moon. Ideas can develop out of the strangest scenarios.

Then, use logic to separate the good ideas from the bazaar. “If Candidate XYZ were elected based on my vote, what might he decide to do about those issues that concern me based upon my understanding of the candidate’s background, personal ethics, experience,  and the people he gathers around him?

Finally, use feelings. “Who might be hurt by my decision to vote for Candidate XYZ and the programs he would promote as surmised by all the information that has gone into my decision making process?”

That is all we can do. People were not given crystal balls along with their first baby rattle. Our great nation was based upon the belief that the people of this country are wise enough to elect our own public servants. Will each of us always be right? Of course not or we would have an election with one-hundred percent of the populous voting for the same person. But, it has worked for over two-hundred years and every election may decide if that election process will continue.

Decide what is important. Research to find out what the candidates have said and/or have done to show they intend to do something about the concern. Brainstorm, think logically, and then decide if the decision is in the best interest of this country and the promotion of liberty and freedom. Then, go vote.

Christiana and her friends will escape the Central Zone to help bring back the privilages, such as voting, that will restore their country to the nation it had been before the great crisis. Vote now to make sure the life Christiana lives does not become our own reality. Read Length of Days - The Age of Silence - available as an eBook at www.amazon.com and www.bn.com.

Myers, Isabel Briggs (1980). Gifts Differing: Understanding Personality Type. Davies-Black Publishing; Reprint edition (May 1, 1995). ISBN 0-89106-074-X