OP-ED Fliers are the wrong medium for political discourse

Author: Julia Szabo and Sarah Tucker

As two students who fully respect and appreciate the first amendment, fliers hung up this week by "Jack & Jill" have tested our patience. You've likely seen posters reading "Voting Kills" and "Nothing's Going to Change My World" accompanied by photos of the presidential candidates. Because these posters are cryptic and anonymous we don't know what their creators are trying to say. Are they against the two-party system, the government, or the candidates themselves? Or is this as attempt at irony? At best these posters are disturbing and confusing.

While we credit the authors with reaching literally every lamppost on campus, their message is unproductive. The flier from earlier this semester stating "Voting Kills" with pictures of the assassinated John and Bobby Kennedy is particularly insensitive given people's real concerns for the safety of our nation's first prominent African-American presidential candidate.

Everyone has a right to voice his or her opinion, but we feel that this particular opinion at this particular time is wholly counterproductive.

Civic engagement or lack thereof is a personal choice, but encouraging apathy in others is something very different. In a system in which the youth aren't listened to, encouraging students not to vote is especially harmful. Perhaps a two-party system isn't ideal, but it is the reality we are faced with. Whether we like it or not change comes through government and the way to have your voice heard is to vote. Your one vote will not decide the election (unless perhaps you're from Florida) but all of our votes together will. As of now, the system doesn't respond to young people because we don't show up at the polls. In contrast, the elderly voting block is disproportionately represented in political campaigns precisely because your grandparents vote. Imagine what we could demand if we turned out on Election Day. Candidates would be forced to address issues that matter to us like college affordability, equitable pay, social justice, and the environment - we could decide.

Neither candidate is perfect, neither platform is complete, and our system may be flawed. But change comes from within, and your voice is your vote. Youth apathy hasn't worked for us in the past, its time to try something new. Go vote …. and enough with the posters.