I’m an undecided voter but this last presidential debate has made one thing clear, I’m not voting for Governor Mitt Romney. After watching the debate and listening to what the candidates had to say I was not persuaded to vote for either one of them. But I was persuaded to not vote for Mitt Romney by Romney himself.
Romney did his best to get his message across and I do believe he was successful. I got to see a different Mitt Romney than I get from media outlets or any other online editorials. A Mitt Romney that is obviously passionate about his campaign and a proud American. For that reason I have a lot of respect for him.
Despite this optimistic bought of energy that Mitt Romney displayed on debate night it was not enough to get my vote. Why? Because I believe Romney’s 4 year plan for the U.S is nicely presented but I believe it will lead us in a wrong direction.
I am a fan of the T.V series The Walking Dead on AMC and many other dystopian/apocalyptic T.V/Movie series. Oddly enough these types of series have taught me valuable lessons of what happens to a society when the world is turned upside down. Most importantly what happens to an individual when the comfortable world they once lived in changes for the worse.
So when I watched the debate and heard of Romney’s plan I couldn’t help but remember some key scenes from The Walking Dead. Scenes in which characters clearly stated why the world was enveloped in chaos. Two of Romney’s points stuck out and I will use them to explain in this blog why I’m not voting for the Governor.
One point Governor Romney stated was that he wants to work to get the U.S energy independent. His goal is ramp up production of clean coal, natural gas, and crude oil. This is a great idea and if done properly can create good jobs and help with the energy crisis.
But ultimately this plan is still depending on non-renewable sources of energy. These sources will eventually run out or production can come to a halt during a national catastrophe. One fictional example comes from episode T.S-19 of season 1 of Walking Dead. In this episode the character Dr. Jenner plays a scientist who works at the C.D.C, he explains that the C.D.C facility is shutting down because the generators are running out of fuel.
Dr. Jenner goes on to rant about how the world runs of fossil fuels and how its a choice that came at a heavy cost. Electricity went out in cities all over the country causing emergency services to go down. Chaos enveloped the country simply because the lights could not stay on.
The idea of chaos brings me to my next point that Mitt Romney stated on debate night. He stated that if elected he would increase the military budget. I believe his reasoning was to create a strong military to defend the U.S from any threat. Which I find reasonable and given the turmoil around the world I would be inclined to think the same way.
My problem with this again comes from a critical scene from the Walking Dead series. In the scene the country has already rolled into chaos and the military seems to have stepped in to keep control. The scene shows the character of Shane trying to get his best friend Rick out of the hospital before the “Walkers”, reach it. Unfortunately, Shane is unsuccessful and has to leave Rick behind but as he’s leaving he sees the military shooting and killing innocent civilians. In another scene Shane also witnesses the military drops napalm unto the city of Atlanta consequently killing innocent civilians as well.
The series goes on to explain that in the chaos the government/military had no choice but to react swiftly to contain the spread of disease. Even if those swift actions caused collateral damages it was choice the government/military made. Though never mentioned in the series I’m sure in an emergency like that, the government must of asked for citizens to lay down their weapons and issued martial law.
Now the Second Amendment of the Constitution states that all citizens have the right to keep and bear arms, and that shall not be infringed. Though hypothetically speaking given the extreme circumstances of a great national emergency the government may reason to look passed the Second Amendment thus infringing on our right to keep and bear arms.
Of course this only for sake of argument and completely hypothetical but I can’t trust a big government or in this case a big military. So in the end these are just two reasons why I’m not voting for Governor Romney. Though he is a very qualified candidate and passionate about “turning” things around, these two points make me quite concerned with his plan. Yes, it’s a silly to try to explain my reasoning by using a fictional example. But given their close similarities I couldn’t help but to extrapolate this choice.
I would like to close by asking all eligible voters to go out and vote. Remember it’s an important right all citizens have and we must exercise it intelligently. So study up on the candidates because the choice and responsibility falls solely on you. Vote for who you want too and make sure to hold them accountable for what they promise.
