I wonder if people ever reflect long enough to see that fury, anger and smear tactics are impotent: Most of what was said to persuade people, at the last minute, how to vote did not actually shift the vote.
These tactics continue to deter voter participation: Generally, only 1 in 5 registered voters cast ballots in any given election, regardless of “what’s at stake.”
I will say that, knowing that one person, party or belief is wrong, is tolerable and understandable, but seeing how broken our system is overall is most distressing: how vapid our media coverage is, how bloated with advertising political campaigns are, how empty the service we receive is when driven by the status and credentialism of individuals, how gerrymandered districts are, how completely divorced political rhetoric is from the real-life experiences of working-class people, etc.
It doesn’t really seem like things could ever be better when people aren’t even remotely trying to be their best: Many are looking for excuses to be their worst. The best thing to do is observe and note who people are — because we all know that folks tell on themselves — and carry on serving the people in your life.
If we want to live in a better world, it won’t happen via election: It’ll happen because we all individually choose to do better within our own homes, schools, communities, parks, towns and cities.
How’d we get the school breakfast programs across this entire country? The Black Panthers organized them — without grants, independent of the states and in spite of them — to meet a community need. The Black Panthers were so effective that their model was copied and implemented countrywide.
So, get politically or civically engaged within your community to make a difference: We need greater participation, not less, in times like these. Talk is cheap, after all.
Michael W. Lankford
Salisbury, Maryland
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
