What is it going to take for you to vote? A president who is openly supportive of anti-Semitism? One who is treating Mexican immigrants as animals to, quite literally, be locked up in cages? One who, just last week, encouraged troops to engage in the bloodshed of immigrants at the border?

What about a government that openly dislikes women? One that believed women’s healthcare is unimportant and needs to be defunded even further? How about a government that continues to debate heavily on what a woman can and cannot do with her body?

Do you want to live in a world where those in control don’t believe the very realistic global environmental crisis we are in? Do you want those in charge to discredit legitimate scientific data? Are you OK with government officials who are willing to watch the world burn and bear witness to entire cities wash away while continuing not to believe the evidence in front of them that the climate is, in fact, changing?

That’s the truth of our current affairs. This is what is currently happening in our world.

So, what now? What more do you need to convince you to get up and get to your polling station on Tuesday?

The reality is, if millennials voted, we probably wouldn’t even be in this political mess. Unfortunately, young people haven’t fully understood the importance of voting and the power of our collective voice. Common belief is that one vote and one opinion doesn’t matter, so why bother?

Besides our current political climate, the 2016 presidential election is why you should bother. Sixty percent of millennials voted for Hillary Clinton, and 3 percent voted for an independent candidate. In contrast, people aged 64-74 are the most represented age group casting ballots, and largely voted Republican. I don’t know about you, but the idea of our grandparents collectively deciding the future of our lives, our rights and a planet we will outlive them on, is in our best interests.

Voting is a right that comes as a privilege of being a citizen of the United States. Looking at the history of voting in America, many before us have fought long and hard for the right to have a say in our government. Therefore, voting is not only our way to give our two cents about who and what we want in our government, but it’s also honoring those who did the backbreaking work to get our opinions to matter.

While our country was founded in 1776, people of color could not vote until 1870 and women had to wait another fifty years in order for their voices to be heard. Even more recently, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed by Lyndon B. Johnson to outlaw discriminatory voting practices and ensure everyone’s equal access to the voting booth. Yet, we still see discriminatory voting practices taking place throughout the country and specific voices targeted to stay silent.

They don’t want us to vote because they know the power our generation has. They know if we all began to vote, it would likely bring an end to bigotry and xenophobia in the U.S. government.

The matters we’re debating right now in Washington are too large and too important for us not to cast our ballot. Taking to Twitter and Facebook to voice your frustrations over the president and policy is no longer enough and, frankly, if you don’t vote, it’s quite hypocritical to do so.

Voting is the way that, every couple of years, we can actually do something that makes a difference. Yes, one vote might not shake up the ballot booth, but a collective vote will. For those who are frustrated by things they hear in the news everyday, are fed up with minorities being scapegoated for our country’s problems and are wondering if you’re going to wake up tomorrow with fewer rights, then now is your chance to do something.

Those of you who do plan on voting or who have already voted: thank you. For those who have yet to do so: please use your right, privilege and duty as an American citizen to make your voice and your wants heard. Yes, you are just one voice, but you can represent many voices that don’t have this right.

Just vote, people.