The Power of Government

As you all know, today is Election day, so I hope you guys went out there to cast your vote! It is important that people of our generation become more politically active; your ballot has an impact! You might be thinking, "Why should I vote?" or "Does my vote even count?" By voting, you are doing a service to the interests of young people, and the rest of the community. With significant issues that affect us every day, such as college affordability, public education, healthcare, etc., we have to take a stand. You can have an influence, so get to those polls and make your voice heard!

Although government is an aspect of our lives, what would life be like if we were forced in our beliefs by the government? Nguyen Chi Thien of Vietnam, was a victim of this instance.

As you may or may not know, Vietnam has a Communist state government. Recently, poet Nguyen Chi Thien, whose poems spoke truth to power, died in a cell at age 73. It was not his three decades of isolation, the cold of his cell,  the rusty shackles, nor the relentless hunger that was hard to endure, but the utter lack of access to written word. But he kept writing. The poems that he passionately wrote opposing the Communist government resulted in his prolonged imprisonment, and ultimately, led to his death.

Thien was considered one of the foremost poets of contemporary Vietnam. He was said to have cared little about money. When he was asked to speak in public places, people would gather money to give with him, to which he would refuse, saying "'Give it to other people who need it more than I.'"

This leads me to wonder: Does our governmental beliefs constitute whether we are a good person or not? Or are we suddenly seen as a "bad" person, a threat to the government, if we do not share the same beliefs as people with authority, people with power? Thien was merely a writer who expressed his feelings through the beauty of words, yet he was punished for not agreeing to the ways of Communist government.  That's like if I woke up tomorrow, as a member of my political party, and our new president was a member of the opposite party, I would be put in jail for not believing in the party that my president belongs to. Now if this ever were to happen, which is very possible, bye bye America because you will no longer see my residency!

Government is power, and although we don't know how significant politics will be in our lives in the future, we must keep in mind that we're living in a country meant to be free, where we are not to be restricted from the decisions we have the ability to make. So, I can't say I'm a big fan of politics, but either way, I have no control over what power the government has in the future.  We tend to forget that we should place people before power. 

As one of my favorite artists said:
"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace." - Jimi Hendrix