Something I think or perhaps hope my friends would say about me to anyone that asked is that I am a very loyal man. I will do almost anything in my power to help my friends, or my coworkers, or my fellow students. The reason that I bring this up is one of my favorite reasons for anything: America.

I love and adore our stupid, awful country. If I didn’t believe my mind made me more useful to my country here at home than I would be in Afghanistan or somewhere else abroad, you could bet your sweet ass that I would be a private out there on the front line. I deeply believe that the welfare of this country is more important than my own, and if it came to it, I would join up for some form of federal service in an instant, should my country require it.

The reason I mention this is as a background to my next statement: What the fuck are we doing right now, America? Seriously? Every single citizen above the age of 18 has a responsibility, not a right but an obligation, to go out and vote to be sure the people at the top are worth something. I don’t care what side you vote for, from the Democrats to the Republicans to the green-nazis. The point is we all had a chance to make sure we didn’t suck as a nation, and our government shutting down today is proof we failed.

As of the first of October here, our government is shutting down for the first time since 1995. I’m not a poli-sci guy, but it looks like it’s over Obamacare, which was successfully defended in Congress over 40 times and approved by the Supreme Court. I like Obamacare, and I think this debate is stupid, but again, I don’t care if you agree or disagree, or think that it’s all a smokescreen for the NSA, or whatever. Shutting down the government is a ridiculously inappropriate response. Federal employees need to pay bills, and rent, and need to eat. America needs to function, and we voted into office people too incompetent to keep it working past issues over healthcare, issues that they have made themselves immune to the effects of regardless of the ultimate decision. This is unacceptable!

The reason for this terrible political rant is this: We are all either of age or close to it here on campus. We’re all pretty smart to have gotten here. Let’s all agree to try and be worth a damn and use that intelligence to make sure nothing this childish and asinine happens again. I don’t care how you vote, but go out and do it. Go learn about the issues, spend an hour learning about what’s going on, and then go vote for the person that has the best position on the issue. Just think about it, folks. Each and every one of you stands between what’s going on right now and the actual functioning of our nation. It is each and every citizen’s responsibility. Please make America better.