The Vote

By Kaia Sheehy Wikio | Posted: Thursday August 6, 2020

“The vote is precious, it is the most powerful non-violent tool we have in a democratic society, and we must use it.”- John Lewis.

In almost all free societies, the right to vote stands as a powerful beacon of democracy for all those over the age of eighteen, but why only them? Why do us children have to sit back and obey the decisions made by people twice our age on what they think is “best for us.” It is time to abolish all rights to vote and all positions of political office for people over eighteen. It is time for a radical shift in power from the fossils to the future, the under eighteens.

The average age of representatives in New Zealand parliament is fifty years of age, the average age in American Congress is fifty seven, and in the UK parliament the average is seventy! To allow free nations to be stuck under the governance of back-wood blabbering baby boomers is an outrage for our bright young future. While many kids are worried about never being able to buy a house or losing the Arctic to pollution, our representatives in parliament ponder over which one of them invented the wheel. If these artery-clogged, cackling codgers are kicked out of government and replaced with kids that truly care about the future of the world, our country will prosper. With a whole new government, we can finally deal with global warming, child poverty and economic decline. By providing the people with a group of representatives that actually care about them, we can finally advance our society. These grizzled grey hairs can get away with ruining the world for their self-gain. They won’t be here to observe the consequences of their selfish decisions. However, a teenager in parliament will have to make better decisions because they will live with the consequences. A new government full of new faces shows a glimmer of hope in the gooey bureaucratic cesspool that is politics.

Why should only teenagers be able to vote? Glad you asked. Because it is important for our environment, economy and culture. We will be giving a powerful political standpoint to people who care more than ever in their lives about issues affecting their future. But why should only under eighteen year olds be able to vote? Because the numbers of voters will skyrocket, as you only have that right for a short part of your life. From birth to adulthood, you can vote. The short age period available for a job in politics ensures that no stubborn senile can occupy a political office for fifty years, elected in the interests of nobody but themselves. Who better to control an economy than people who are new to it and trying to learn? Who better to handle environmental policy than people who will be affected most by it? Who better to handle education than the students? Who better to lead the future of the nation than the nation’s future? Not some carbon-dated decrepits who just want to keep nations the same in a constantly changing planet?

Now, the concept of entrusting a military force and billions of dollars to a building full of teenagers may sound scary, but it’s far superior to a building full of antique amnesiacs who don’t remember what they ate for breakfast. Many nations have come and gone under the rule of abominable ancients. We can look at a prime example of Zimbabwe. There, Robert Mugabe clung onto power for thirty seven years, carelessly bankrupting his country with mass inflation, resulting in the notorious one-hundred trillion dollar banknote. We have seen over a hundred million people killed in two world wars and thousands of conflicts in the 20th century alone. All of these deaths were ordered by old world leading lunatics. Perhaps the true value of life can only be entrusted to kids who won’t throw it away so meaninglessly.

Once anyone hits eighteen, their rights to vote will be removed, their potential position in politics will be replaced, and they will be left without the founding right in a democracy. The fair trade off for their freedom to vote will be alcohol and the gradual sadness of being old.

So place your rights, freedoms and hopes in the hands of people who will abuse it slightly less, and let us teenagers lead the future.