away your ability to have any influence as to how these issues play out in your world. 3. The only way democracy can work is if citizens, young and old, are active participants. A government by the people, for the people just can't work without the people. Like a car without an engine, or a computer without a hard drive, a democracy without voters is just a shell and has no power. While it is easy to say "one vote doesn't make a difference" the reality is that every vote counts. Also we have to remember that as an individual our vote may seem to be little more than a whisper but when your vote is combined with the votes of others who share your views it becomes a voice and the more like-voters there are the louder that voice grows. 4. If you don't vote you really have no right to complain about government decisions you don't like. If there is one thing that is really annoying to actual voters, it is the endless ramblings on the bad political policy of a current government spewing from the mouths of eligible voters who never bothered to cast a ballot. If you don't vote it is like saying you don't care how your country is run, so if you don't care where do you get the idea that you can complain? 5. Bottom line: you should vote because you can. Voting is a tremendous gift. Believe it or not, young people