Waiting On The World To Change

When John Mayer released this song, it struck a chord with many people in my generation through these lines:

"Me and all my friends
We're all misunderstood
They say we stand for nothing and
There's no way we ever could
Now we see everything is going wrong
With the world and those who lead it
We just feel like we don't have the means
To rise above and beat it

So we keep waiting on the world to change
It's hard to beat the system
When we're standing at a distance
So we keep waiting on the world to change

Now if we had the power
To bring our neighbors home from war
They woulda never missed a Christmas
No more ribbons on the door
When you trust your television
What you get is what you got 'cause when they own the information
They can bend it all they want

That's why we're waiting on the world to change

It's not that we don't care
We just know that the fight ain't fair
So we keep waiting on the world to change

One day our generation
Is gonna rule the population
So we keep on waiting on the world to change"

And now, perhaps sooner than expected, the time for waiting is over. Essentially, the two groups that will decide who will become our next president are undecided voters and first time voters, the vast majority of which are under 30 years of age. Historically, campaigns have had trouble getting young voters to follow through, actually cast a ballot, and make their voice heard. In the past, we could have perhaps used the excuse that our vote simply did not matter, but in this election, if you take young voters out of the equation, Obama's lead on McCain in the polls is essentially nullified as it then falls beneath the margin of error. So the time for waiting is over, and the time for change (at least in a generation's attitude toward participating in the American democratic process) has come. Irrespective of which candidate you support, please make sure you vote before or on this Tuesday, November 4.