You might have right to vote but have you ever asked yourself whether you are at liberty to vote or not. This is where we can’t recognize our prerogative to optimize our liberty in this contemporary politics. Historically, we had been struggling to have universal suffrage with equal opportunity based on gender by sacrificing life of lives. Tibetans were bestowed with fortunes to have been able to optimize this opportunity. Yet it welcomes critical appraisal from different individuals. Let me not digress from my title. If you are 18 years old, you are a responsible citizen of our nation. You have right to vote. No one is going to snatch away that right. But you have to introspect whether you are fully at liberty to vote or not. There must have achoice which is a cornerstone of liberty. That choice should not have any constraints. If there is constraint, your liberty to certain activity is disturbed. The most important aspect of liberty is to have an existence condition which in turn fulfills your desire by optimizing that object. Each of us has our own choice of candidates for Sikyong(Political Leader) and Chithue (Members of Parliament). Our choices don’t remain same as now when we are nearer to polling booth. The simplest reason is that there are so many constraints from different views as well as influential people. Our choices become their choices. We have more constraints. The final victory comes out of choice which would never fulfill your desire because they are not your real choice.
None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.
By Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
When your freedom to vote is curbed by some influential people, you are implicitly enslaved by them because they enslaved you to fulfill their desire. Thus, you are responsible to think twice or thrice to have real freedom while voting. Some rhetoric words might touch you for moment. There are rational arguments as well. All are just attracting you because you have a power to obligate them as our legitimate leader. In other words, your decision matters a lot because you will decide our struggle. Thus, be alert though there might have some sentimental words which might help in short term but not in long term.
Those who know bear the responsibility to act.
By David Easton
Don’t ever be mute against any irrelevant campaigning because it curbs the value of democracy. There are four kinds of citizens, as wish bone citizen has always wishes but does nothing at all, then jaw bone citizen who always talks but always comes with no action, knuckle bone citizen always knuckles others’ work down and back bonecitizen is someone who acts as back bone of our skeleton. Can you be the back bonecitizen of our nation for this juncture? It costs nothing at individual level but brings new hope in near future if we collectively think about it.
I would wind up my views here by urging you to think before you vote as it is not late.
Note: This article is deliberately written on this occasion to feel the importance of democracy being bestowed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
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