We live in what’s casually referred to as a democracy; more specifically, a representative democracy dominated by a “two party” system that is, in actuality, a single party with two wings. One wing is a wholly owned subsidiary of the wealthiest individuals and corporations on the planet. The other is an actual political party with a relatively broad base but that’s sluiced full of cash from many of the same players. I am not going to sit here and suggest that voting makes all of the difference in the world – it obviously doesn’t. But I will say that it’s something we must do (among many other things) if only to keep things from becoming exponentially worse than they are right now.

I know – that doesn’t sound like a gee-whiz, hyper positive, up-with-people rallying cry of the sort we have all grown to expect since our kindergarten days. It’s merely the truth – the vote is a right people have died defending in this country (see Schwerner, Goodman, and Chaney), and we need to exercise it. We also need to encourage those around us to do the same thing. Because if we stay home, sit on our hands, choose to watch the game instead of marking the ballot, our opponents – those who are part of the wholly-owned corporate subsidiary known as the Republican party – gain even greater influence and power. Elections always have consequences.

Indeed, the evidence is all around us. We are still living with the fallout of the 2004 presidential election; specifically, every reactionary 5-4 Supreme Court decision from Citizens United to Shelby County vs. Holder is the product of the second Bush term and the appointment of what may be a permanent activist conservative majority with justices Alito and Roberts. The outright disaster of the 2010 mid-terms will be with us for at least the next decade, with Republican-biased redistricting, severe limits on abortion rights, attacks on voter access,  forced budgetary austerity, and persistent denial of and inaction on climate change.

So listen, friends … you may not love your congressional, gubernatorial, or down-ballot choices, but you need to vote for them, then work for more progressive alternatives. That’s the only way things ever change for the better in this country. So go do it.

luv,

jp