With the divisive presidential race and Big First congressional slug fest, many are complaining that they are not being heard. In some corners, folks are asking why vote?

But, either as a protest against the system or as an ill-conceived resignation that voting no longer matters, this is a bad idea. It brings to mind the old joke about the researchers who were trying to determine which of two young boys was a pessimist and which was the optimist.

They put each child in a room with a large pile of horse manure.

One boy did nothing but cry and complain about how bad it smelled and how much of a mess there was. They pegged him as the pessimist.

The scientists looked in on the other boy who was in the middle of the pile, digging and flinging manure everywhere. They asked him what he was doing to which he responded “with all this horse manure, they has to be a pony in here somewhere.”

He was the optimist.

Now, lets connect the dots. Sure, our political system is a mess and can resemble a smell pile of, well you know. And, as we’ve listened to ads and watched conventions, it is clear there is plenty of manure being flung about.

But, what would you rather do? Sit in the corner and gripe while doing nothing but letting the status quo continue to stink?

Or, would you rather dig in, get dirty and find that pony?

Sure, our politics are flawed. However, it doesn’t take much following of global news to see corners of the world where things are much worse.

We may not be perfect, but what we have is better than the competition.

By sticking to stubborn pessimism or giving in to apathy, we only allow the system to control us, not the other way around. We also risk ceding our freedoms to those in positions of power.

In other words, hold your nose and vote. We can only hope there is a horse in there somewhere.

Dale Hogg