As you know, it’s election season. Even if you’re not politically active it’s impossible to avoid the evidence running all day on TV, radio, the internet, your phone, and strategically stuck in the ground … everywhere.
I’ve got some thoughts about it.
First, as much as you might try to distance yourself, you have to do at least a little bit. That famous Ben Franklin quote to a person asking him after the signing of the original United States Constitution about what exactly do we now have still applies. Franklin famously said, “a republic, if you can keep it.” Meaning, I think, that the new government was a fragile thing and that citizens should be compelled to participate in its operations with character and vigilance. In other words, at a minimum, get out and vote. If I can say nothing else about our current situation, at least I can say that I voted in that election.
And while I’m talking about voting, a process, right, and obligation that we all take for granted I always think back to how certain of us only get to vote because we amended that original Constitution. Only in 1920, which was almost 150 years after we declared our independence did women get the right to vote and another 45 years before black people were guaranteed the right. That it took so long is one thing, that it had to be legislated is another. Like many other ordinary daily activities, voting seems like something everybody should always have had the right and responsibility to do.
My favorite example is having a federal minimum wage law. Can you imagine an employer saying to an employee, “we would like to pay you even less, but that would be against the law”? Telling another adult that they can’t vote makes about as much sense.
One other thing, I’m not buying anybody’s claim about things being “rigged” unless they’ve got solid proof. Conspiracy theories sell well, but I’m tired of them. If you’ve got proof, present it. Otherwise you’re insulting everyone. Worse, you’re harming those that actually run elections. My dad was an Air Force veteran and always cringed whenever he heard anyone claim that the moon landing was faked. He knew too many people intimately involved with the space program and felt that unfounded or easily debunked “evidence” was slapping them all in the face. I feel the same about election security.
There are so many people dedicated to running things professionally and properly. To smear the process is to tell each of these people that they are also frauds. Should their work be scrutinized? It certainly must. So do that, and then trust them and their results.
My assessment of Franklin’s comment included both character and vigilance for good reason which is that without either, neither matters.
To take part in anything without employing character is kind of what we are heading toward currently. The daily flood of the untrue is nearly as bad as the daily acceptance of that same garbage by so many. The loss or simple lack of character evident in the halls and offices of those chosen to lead has got to be remedied.
And that might come with vigilance. Calling out a lie is a start. Not accepting the worn out claim that the 2020 Presidential election was anything other than won by Joe Biden is another. If anyone ever claims that something other than what is open and notorious, they’d better have solid proof. Let’s all agree that claims otherwise are insulting.
So have some character, be vigilant, and please vote.