it is 3:40AM and i am here reading comments on Facebook about the upcoming Pan Am games referendum. now, i am not one to claim moral or intellectual high-ground over another. and i sure as hell dont ascribe to telling others what they should and should not believe in....but i think the controversy over this issue has brought out the best and worst in many of us, and it only serves to highlight how humanly flawed we all are.....
im not going to beat around the bush.....i am voting YES to the pan am games coming to utsc, and to the students paying their share....
to all you nay-sayers out there, let me make a few things clear....i dont care about a hidden agenda, or about the increase in fees, or about legacies of debt, or any other idea that can be ranted and raved about for weeks on end without being convincing....i agree with the stance that some of the facets of this endeavour are less than ideal, tuition hikes being the most obvious one....but thats like looking at manure and calling it shit without recognizing its ability to help bear fertile fruit....
i am voting yes because i know that there are few times in my life when i will have the opportunity to participate in something so potentially uplifting and community building, something with such great potential to bring unity and modernity to an area that needs it, something so much bigger than myself and my own selfish interests, at such a relatively little personal cost to me...
i am voting yes because i recognize that the student centre in which i eat my lunch and meet my friends and and attend events everyday, the same student centre that hosted the YES and NO side town halls, was built by students who also wanted lower fees, who also were worried about hidden agendas, but who recognized the greater importance of making a contribution to the future benefit of others such as myself....
i am voting yes even while understanding the commitment this vote will make to future generations, having spoken to numerous people, attended meetings and town halls, and having done the math myself...because to me, building an Olympic-caliber stadium costs $80 a year with a 4% increase per year for 25 years, but building a culture, a community and a reputation is priceless.....
i will vote yes even though ive heard the NO arguments, some of which have good weight....i would have had more respect for the NO campaign if it was carried out in a respectable and thoughtful manner....but in the last few weeks all i have encountered is people cursing people for supporting a cause, i have heard accusations and allegations instead of constructive criticism, i have heard vicious personal attacks, libelous and slanderous statements instead of diplomatic implorements....i have sensed only hateful indignation instead of earnest objection...undue aggression undermined the guise of genuinely concerned students seeking to enlighten and protect the student body, and only succeeded in making the NO campaign sound like a group of bitter haters who are only concerned with reinforcing barriers and not with breaking them down....
i will vote yes because instead of dwelling on the unchangeable past, i choose to focus on my ability to construct the future...because i know that if i sit around and wait for good things to come to me, then all i will ever do is sit and wait....
i will vote yes because i want to...and because i can
KUDOS for not being ashamed to vote yes! I agree with your points one hundred percent, especially because 'vote-no'-ers are rude and unable to accept that some people can SEE their point of view yet exercise their power to vote differently.
ReplyDelete-another concerned UTSC student
awesome post. whether it's a passionate yes or a passionate no, what matters most is that it is thought through and your answer is YOUR answer, not anyone elses'.
ReplyDelete