- (FBE) Everyone in the following episode
is voting for the first time in the 2020 election.
So, this election will be your first time voting.
Can you talk about why you haven't voted in the past
and why you've decided to make this election your first time?
- Well, I just turned 18. So, you know, it's time.
- I became a citizen of the United States of America
when I was 18. So, the last presidential election,
I could have voted. And, you know, all honesty out,
I didn't, because I didn't care enough.
I genuinely believed, like, "Does my vote genuinely matter?"
Like, one person out of millions. I don't think it will.
So, I watched the whole thing, but I did not vote.
- I never thought that voting was as important as it really is.
I was naive. I believed that-- What can my little vote do?
One vote. Especially living in California.
California is a very blue state. I happen to be red.
And what is my vote gonna do? It's just not gonna do anything.
So, I stay home. And I feel like by doing that,
I can't get blamed for what happens.
But I feel this one's really important,
and this is something that I have to do my civic duty.
- I just turned 18 in May. I've never voted before,
'cause I never had the chance. I was pre-registered
from the day I was 16, so I've been ready to vote. (laughs)
- I never registered to vote when I turned 18.
It just wasn't really a priority of mine.
I realized that in order to exercise my rights as an American,
I gotta at least get out there and put my voice on that ballot.
- I'm 20 years old right now, and this is gonna be
the first presidential election that I'm voting in.
And thankfully, it's a very exciting one.
- It's important to me to just use my voice and to use
the power that has been given to me from being born in this country
and being eligible to actually participate in it.
- I was working on a cruise ship back in 2016, and I didn't get
registered in time. I was like, "Oh,
everyone's got their wits about them. Hillary's gonna win."
So, I wasn't too concerned. And then, when Trump won,
I felt really guilty. - I would hear people say
they wouldn't vote a lot, and I would be like,
"Okay, that makes sense. If you don't like either, that's fine."
But then, it seems like, as I got older,
if you don't vote, you're not doing anything for anybody.
I wanna use my voice the one way I can as a 21-year-old.
- i just turned 20 actually, so this is going to be
the first presidential election that I vote in,
because it's the first presidential election
I have been old enough to vote in. - (FBE) Obviously, this has been
a tumultuous year for the United States.
And a lot of people believe that there is a lot riding
on this election. So, according to Pew Research Center,
for Trump supporters, the economy and violent crime
are their two biggest concerns when it comes to their voting decisions.
And for Biden supporters, the most important issues
are healthcare and the coronavirus outbreak.
What would you say is the most important issue for you
when it comes to voting this year? - Personally, I'm more so concerned
about COVID and the healthcare crisis given the current state of the world.
Also, I suffered a death in the family due to COVID.
So, this one's really hitting very close to home.
- It has affected me in a very intense way very badly
and my family as well. My dad lost his job in April.
This shouldn't be the new normal. And the fact that it's gone on
this long with just the idea of we're gonna beat it...
it blows my mind. - I mean, hello.
We're all being affected by it, and we're all gonna be affected by it
now and in the near future. - The most important issues
for me are A, definitely the pandemic.
You know, I have family that's high risk that, you know,
I worry about every single day. And then, you know,
LGBT and women's rights. I'm bisexual, so...
feel like, you know,
very uncertain but hoping that...
things don't go absolutely terrible. (laughs)
- Definitely equal rights. We say equal rights
and we put equal rights on paper, but it's plain obvious,
especially in this past year, that equal rights does not exist
in the United States of America. I just don't believe
that I have these same opportunities and the same rights as certain people
are portraying as of right now. - For me personally,
the right to get married and if that is gonna get revoked
within a next four-year with the Trump administration.
And also a lot of concern for my black and brown friends.
- (FBE) The Pew Research Center reported that 80% of voters
say the economy will be very important to them when it comes
to their voting decisions. And it's the number one
most important issue for Republican voters.
How do you feel about the current state of the economy?
And what do you think we need going forward?
- In this situation, it makes me think of the old tales,
where, you know, you can get this and you can sprout this much
amount of energy or this much amount.
But if you wait and wait and wait, things will sprout
much bigger for you. I do not believe
that opening everything is taking it back,
because eventually COVID will rise again,
people will get sick again, death rates will go immensely high.
- We have to be patient. People are dying right now.
People's lives and people's health should be the priority
before the economy. And if people-- you know,
that's why we have to have aid. And we should be getting more
in our stimulus checks and unemployment and stuff like that.
We should have some sort of relief implemented
that Trump just kind of stepped over. - I believe we need to open it up.
Safely. You know, social distance where it's necessary, masks.
To be hunkered down in your house-- and luckily, my wife is
working from home. Other than that,
we'd be devastated, because I work in the entertainment business,
and there's nothing out there for me right now.
- I think another stimulus package is what we need.
We need a stimulus package so that everyday Americans,
not people who are the heads of multinational corporations,
not people who are particularly well off,
but so that everyday Americans, so that families can maintain
their standard of living. - (FBE) So, Biden has vowed
to bolster the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare, while Trump has used
executive orders to try to undermine the ACA.
Biden would also like to lower the Medicare eligibility age
to 60 instead of 65, while Trump supports work requirements
and other limitations on Medicare. What are your personal priorities
when it comes to healthcare? Healthcare-- I mean,
I just don't understand why not everybody has healthcare
included with your citizenship. Every other developed country
gives you healthcare. - If the ACA gets repealed
and stuff like that, I wouldn't be able to stay
on my parents' insurance until I'm 26.
I'm 18. That's a huge gap. So, I think ensuring that I can
at least be covered until I'm 26 under my parents' insurance
is a huge thing for me and I think a lot of young people.
And then, also, I agree with expanding the Obamacare, but I would like
to see it reformed. Ideally, I would love to see
healthcare guaranteed as a human right in America.
I mean, we're the only civilized country
that doesn't have healthcare guaranteed to our citizens.
- I'd like to be able to pick my own doctor.
I'd like to have a rapport with my doctor.
I don't want a one system fits all. I don't think that works.
I believe that we should improve our healthcare system,
but I don't believe working or trying to retool Obamacare
is the answer. - It's not just elderly people
that are being affected. It's like, this goes down
all the way to gen Z millennials who don't have healthcare
and are now, like, if they get sick with the virus,
how do they pay for any of that testing?
How do they pay for any of that hospitalization?
- While having Obamacare seems great and working towards that,
like the idea of having free healthcare for everyone
seems ideal, it's just not plausible,
'cause it's gonna raise everyone's taxes.
And it's gonna end up hurting more people
than benefiting them versus just lowering
the cost of things and making things more cost effective,
so you can make your own decisions. - We need to make sure healthcare
is affordable based on a person's annual income.
Obviously, I understand how expensive healthcare can be
in a lot of cases, but I think people are--
they have the right to be able to afford to take care of themselves
and their families. - (FBE) All right. Well,
before we go, as someone who's voting for the first time,
can you tell the folks watching at home right now
why it is so important for everyone to vote this year?
- It's important for everyone to vote this year,
because you should use your voice.
Don't let anybody stifle you. This is the one chance you have
to tell people how you feel. So, do it.
- Don't just sit back and expect other people
to voice your own opinions. You have to get out there.
You have to exercise your rights.
- We can't continue to believe that our voice doesn't matter,
that we are something greater than just a number.
- Your voice matters. Even if people tell you
that it doesn't, even if people say that it doesn't,
your voice matters. We need to start taking initiative
and taking action. If this is how we can
start evoking change, it's not gonna stop here,
but it's a start. - I realized that if you can influence
even just one person with your courage to vote,
that's everything and more. You deserve to have your voice
and your opinion taken down. - So many people in other countries,
they don't have this right. And it's such a blessing
that we do get to do this and that we have a democracy
in the United States and that we, the people,
have power to make the decision of whatever it is,
whatever our beliefs are, we get to fight for those.
And we have the right to do that. And not doing that is just so sad.
It's like throwing something away that you have that's so valuable.
- I think it's important for everyone to vote every year,
because I think that that's your civic duty,
and you should do it. And I feel badly
that I haven't done it. But I've finally come
to the realization at this point in my life
that it is important to vote. The choice is yours.
All I can say is it's important to get out there and vote.
No matter which way you vote, get out there and vote,
'cause this is the most important election in my lifetime,
and it probably will be the most important election
for decades, if not centuries, to come.
- It is so important. In the 2016 election,
the margins were so small in key states that literally,
it was just like by a couple thousand, I think.
And if those people had voted, we wouldn't have had
the past four years that we've had. Please just do it.
It's really not that hard. And they give you
a nice little sticker. And then you can post it
on social media, and everybody's gonna love you for it.
I mean, come on. All the cool kids are doing it.
Come on. You've gotta vote. You gotta do it.
- Hey, it's Sierra, React producer.
If you'd like more information and resources to help you
vote this year, then go check out the links down in the description.
Please use your voice. It matters. Go vote.
And please remember to keep the conversation respectful
in the comments of this episode. We like to use our platform
to help share different points of view
on what's going on in the world, so please help us continue to do so.
Thanks, guys. Bye!