"Why I
Vote"
by Tatyana Merryman
Nov 2000
From
the Dave Ramsey Show
I was born in Russia and lived
twenty-four years of my life there. Though it is a
country with beautiful nature and abundant natural
resources, it is also a country where you never
experience true liberty. Why, because only where the
government fears the people, you have liberty. In Russia
the people feared the government and it led to tyranny.
To understand what I just said, you have to know and
understand communist ideology that is so prevailing in
Russian government and the minds of the Russian people.
Throughout my life, I was taught that I had to give up
my rights for the sake of the “common good”, and
people did give up their rights, while at the same time
they lost “free choice”. Russia ended up in a police
state with control of the government in every area of
the individual’s life. With loss of free choice,
privacy of one’s life was destroyed and without it
there was no freedom.
How did all this affect me and my
family? Here are a few examples. Since government
controlled education, I was taught in school that there
was no God. I grew up an atheist. Since all land belongs
to the government, my parents could only live in an
apartment the government rented us. We had to wait many
years to get it. Living with other families in the
meantime. The size of the house or apartment was
determined by the government. Even if we saved enough
money to build a house, it would still be on government
owned land and subject to be taken at any time. There
were no rights of inheritance. It did not matter how
hard my parents worked, they would be paid only what the
government determined was necessary to live on. Income
tax was so heavy that we were not allowed to know how
much was taken from our paychecks. Because Russia had a
central banking system, the government could take all
your savings or change the value of the Ruble overnight
causing you to lose it. Also, the health care
system was controlled. People do not have a choice of
doctors and there was and still is a shortage of
medicine. Frequently, we heard politicians bragging
about our so-called “free-of-charge” health care,
but we knew that it was a myth. If someone wanted to get
what we considered adequate medical attention, a bribe
to doctor was necessary. Since government owned and
controlled communications, we did not know the truth
about the real condition of our country or the world.
Only the news that was approved by the government and
supported communist ideology appeared on TV or in the
newspapers. Since government controlled transportation,
we could not go anywhere or at anytime we wished. Since
government owned/controlled all factories and
agriculture, there was no choice in clothing or food. We
wore clothes that was approved by the government and ate
food that was allowed to be grown on collective farms
and slept on beds that were made according to government
specifications. No wonder that people all looked alike,
wore the same clothes and lived in apartments that all
look the same!
You might ask, “Why didn’t people
stand up against the system?” Some did, but they were
considered the enemies of communist socialism and
according the Russian Constitution, you were not allowed
to do such a thing. Nobody should even think about
criticizing the system. Rebels were put in prison,
sometimes with their whole family or if they were really
lucky, forced out of the country. All the property of
the rebels and their family would be confiscated.
Bearing of arms was strictly against the law in order
that the government would have total control of over the
citizens.
You may again ask…. “Who is the
government in Russia?” The answer is not the citizens,
but a group of tyrants who appointed themselves to be
the leaders after the Revolution in 1917. The
Constitution was written in such a way that only the
communist party was allowed. During an election, there
was only one person to vote for who was appointed by the
Communist Party. If you show complete loyalty to the
system and meet the criteria for becoming a Communist,
you may have a chance to get a position in the
government office and be accepted into the “elite.”
Government made more and more laws to control the
citizens by taking more and more rights away. Some of
the rights were turned into privileges for certain
groups of “elite” people. However, the “elite”
never had to obey the laws that it made. Hospitals,
housing, pension plans, and grocery stores for the
“elite” were much nicer than for the ordinary
people. The “elite” drove nice cars and had special
vacations. All that was paid for by the people who were
prohibited from enjoying it.
When I was in high school, I started
to doubt the justice of communism. Neither my parents
nor teachers could answer my questions. The government
censored all books in the library so I could not find
the answers there either. Through the Voice of America
radio program, which was sometimes not scrambled by the
government, I heard the truth about my country. First, I
did not believe it thinking, as I had been taught, that
it was capitalist propaganda. But later, accepting more
and more, I understood that there might be some truth to
what I heard. I decided to learn English, hoping that it
would help me to read different kinds of books that were
smuggled into Russia from abroad. Therefore, I hoped
somehow to get a job that required knowledge of English
so that I could travel to another country one day on a
business trip. Of course, I would have to become part of
the “elite” for such a thing to happen.
But God had a different plan! One day
I heard the truth about Jesus Christ at a youth meeting,
where I had come only to meet my friend who was helping
me with English. That night I met my true friend, Jesus.
Finally, many of my questions about life were beginning
to be answered. A year later, I married an American and
moved here to the United States. I was fearful of
transition, but God sustained me through His Spirit,
friends and family. One thing that I quickly learned
about America was that I had to make choices all the
time. It was a tearful experience to select a toothbrush
at Wal Mart. Never before was I constantly faced with
making constant decisions. In Russia, I was told what to
do.
In America, I have the freedom to
choose. In the beginning, I was frustrated, but soon I
fell in love with this great country. In 1998 I was
eligible for citizenship and I applied. Preparing for
the test, I read the Constitution and the Declaration of
Independence. It opened my eyes about why America is
such a great country. The foundation of our government
teaches that our rights come from God! And “We the
People” are the government. I knew right away that as
a citizen of America, I am not only to enjoy the rights
but to also exercise the responsibilities of
self-government. I have to vote! I have to elect
righteous people to represent me in the
government!
We can no longer have a government of
the people, by the people, for the people, when the
people no longer care or are willing to govern
themselves and no longer demand high standards of their
leaders and government. Also, I learned that the
root of the term “politics” is a Greek word meaning
“what citizens do”. Therefore, politics means
citizenship, and citizenship means participation! We
have to vote for godly people who will uphold the
Constitution and who will limit government to its proper
role. Politicians who promise the most will need a
bigger government to fulfill all the promises and one
day we may have total government. I do not want to have
the system of socialist government as I had in Russia.
As long as I am alive, I will participate in the
electoral process and I encourage you to do the same. We
cannot abandon our God given rights. Founding Father
Benjamin Rush knew the importance of the people’s
involvement in government. He said, “Every citizen of
the republic…must watch for the State as if its
liberties depend upon on his vigilance alone.” If you
stay at home every election thinking that politics is
dirty, maybe you are the one who allows it to happen.
You let crooks to get elected. English Statesman, Edmund
Burke said, “The only thing necessary for evil to
triumph is for good men to do nothing.” Get registered
to vote! Get informed about candidates that are running
for office! Study the Constitution and Declaration of
Independence! Pray and go to vote every election! Stay
informed about issues and bills! Notify your
representatives of your opinions and wishes! My friend
told me one day, “your vote is your voice….speak
up!”
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