Leading up to the election, I have seen a concerning amount of political apathy among my college-age peers. Surprisingly, however, it’s not all from people who are not politically engaged.

It’s to be expected that people who don’t care about politics aren’t going to be particularly enthusiastic to get out and vote. As upsetting as that is, it’s a simple reality that around a third of the US population doesn’t vote.

Despite this, I have noticed a concerning trend of young left-leaning voters intending not to vote in this election. 

Now, let me just preface this by saying that you are more than within your rights to withhold your vote. That said, I am also within my rights to give you a stink eye when you don’t vote.

Now, any leftist who isn’t voting is likely doing so because they feel disillusioned with the current state of the Democratic Party, especially concerning the Biden administration’s response to Gaza. 

I wholly empathize with this perspective because what has happened in Gaza over the last year has been horrible, and I understand how seeing the death and destruction there can make someone reconsider their orientation.

That said, lefties seem to be prescribing the wrong medicine to fix the problem, and in the process, could potentially open the doors to something far worse and far more dangerous. 

Coming from someone who is also on the left and skeptical of Kamala Harris, there is just simply far too much at stake for you to be hinging your vote on this one issue.

For one, the stated differences between the two candidates on Gaza cannot be more stark, with Trump having called Biden a “bad Palestinian” on the debate stage and Harris being was one of the first people in the administration and mainstream Democratic Party to speak out against the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

With this in mind, while you might not see one choice as great, I firmly believe that despite that, you have a moral duty to push for the best POSSIBLE outcome for the people of Palestine.

Let’s also not ignore the variety of other issues at hand right here in America that will affect the 300+ million people here domestically, but also the entire world, such as reproductive and LGBTQ+ rights, as well as Trump’s plans to deport millions of undocumented immigrants, proposal to shut down the department of education, threats to use the military against US citizens, and more.

I’m not minimizing the importance of Gaza, but the people who hinge their vote on it to me are forgetting the bigger picture of what exactly is at stake with this election. If you are unwilling to vote for the major party candidate that most closely aligns with your ideology, then you are tacitly giving the OK to the opposite party to take power.

Call me heartless, but this is not an appropriate time for hopeless idealism when the threat stretches far beyond Gaza and to the entire world.

A lot of lefties also just simply view Harris as a part of a vague corporate establishment that is bought and paid for, but (again) that doesn’t really conceptually change all that much even if true. Not to burst your bubbles, but your little communist revolution against the bourgeois is never happening, and it’s important to understand the possible and pragmatic solutions that exist to face contemporary problems. 

Some may say, “Oh, but what if I vote third party?” And to that, I say, you are still being silly. The US’ winner-take-all electoral system in conjunction with its shockingly horrible civics education has effectively made it possible for any other parties to rise to relevance. 

Hate to say it, but a vote for someone like Jill Stein is just simply a wasted vote. Actually, I don’t hate to say it because she consistently refuses to call Vladimir Putin a war criminal, and her whole political career exists just so she can sow discontent and division within the Democratic Party and siphon votes from them.

Tangents aside, this is not a time for self-righteous performativity and if you care about Trump not getting into office again, you should (again) be working towards the best possible outcome instead of obstinantly sitting in the corner with your arms crossed. I know Harris might not be your ideal choice, but sometimes, we don’t get dibs on our first choice, and I think it’s dangerous to completely throw your vote away like a picky child who won’t eat their vegetables.