I often get criticized when I say I’ve never voted in my life and I’m 29 years old. Accusations like I’m not being a good citizen or being ignorant to important issues that are ongoing in our country today. And even though I pay my taxes, abide by the local driving laws in every state, and make sure to engage with my community through various events to continually try and improve it, the idea of voting has never made sense to me. What I really struggle with is not the distance of myself and what is on the TV, but rather the disconnect of what we are all really working towards as citizens of the United States of America. I couldn’t imagine a soccer player playing the sport and trying to figure out what goal he was trying to score in. But that is how I feel when it comes to being a citizen today. What goal as an American team are we playing towards? Beating ourselves up, red vs blue? Is it more jobs? Is it less crime? Is it more people finding out their neighbors names instead of watching a tv at night? Who would be the coach? Our president? Who is the referee? Even soccer fans know the rules to play by, and yet how many of us (myself included) know the rules to play by as a citizen? Sure I can stop at a red light. Sure I can pay my taxes. But clearly that is not the overall goal. So what is? Soccer players don’t do just one thing to score goals in a game, they actively play the game using many various kinds of skills and “put their money where their mouth is” when it’s game time. Maybe voting will become another skill of mine I will use one day, but for now, my practicing of my “rights” are through a different medium. Through our local philosophy group we have been allowing people of all backgrounds to share a common space for ideas of politics, citizenship, and even living the American Dream. For me this is the essence of the “game”. Like people play soccer in the streets all over the world, in abandoned lots, and in professional stadiums on tv, it’s the essence of playing the game that must be awakened regardless of where it is being played and at what “level” it is being played.