I'm sure you've heard about the latest outrage. Of course you have. It was about foreign affairs or the economy or immigration or something that will make the country weak or less democratic or dirtier or something. You reacted to it on social media. Maybe you organized something or gave money to someone or just shook your head.
Eyes forward lefty. The day-to-day is simply a distraction. The point is to say how you will fix this or make it less important or make it go away. Perhaps, yes perhaps, you might even want to ignore it next time. I know, that's a tough one, but it might lower your blood pressure or clear your mind so you can think and not just react.
Feel better? OK, this will take time.
Keep your eyes forward. The message has to be that if you want a change from what's been happening, then you have to register to vote, and then vote. Then you have to make sure that the correct message gets out. You want a foreign policy that has a point, that safeguards democratic values, that honors and supports out allies, that makes China think twice before stealing intellectual property and that sends a message to Russia that what they're doing is completely unacceptable?
Then you have to vote for the people who will send that message.
Do you want an economy where wages actually rise for workers, where workplace safety is a prominent concern, where unionized workers can bring positive change, where products are safe, where pollution is punished, where the gap between the highest earners and the lowest stops widening, and where all people have affordable, meaningful health care?
Then you have to vote for the people who will send that message.
Do you want a society were all people are valued and where all Americans have access to the ideas that will enable them to prosper intellectually? Do you want leaders who will recognize that we are strong because we are diverse, and that we ask questions of each other because that's what helps us figure out what we need to do to improve?
Never forget that that the president was elected with a minority of the popular vote and that he is still not popular with a majority of Americans. We are the majority. Eyes forward.
For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives or Twitter @rigrundfest
No comments:
Post a Comment