Somehow, impossibly, we find ourselves in the same position again: a choice that has divided the country, pit neighbor against neighbor, and is down to the wire. It is basically the worst Groundhog’s Day ever: an unqualified businessman turned reality show host who delivers hateful rhetoric, threats, and a litany of crimes versus a public servant with a career of proven success, acumen, and general consideration for the people they wish to represent. The fact that this “choice” is presented to us time and time again with shocking levels of closeness boggles my mind.
I have seen quite a few folks, both in the book/blogging community and in my daily life, saying that they “don’t like to discuss politics”, and you know what? Nope. You could have said that thirty years ago, and I would have understood and moved on. But you can’t. You simply can’t, because here is the whole truth: if you stay silent, you are complicit. That’s it, full stop. Not speaking out is saying volumes: It is saying that you, personally, have a privilege to not stand up, to not voice these concerns. It says that you care more about your comfort than the rights of others*.
*Obviously, if you are in a genuinely unsafe environment and cannot, this does not apply, please stay safe!
Please don’t misunderstand, I am not saying that everyone needs to be open and loud on a social forum. There are so many ways to help the cause, and I certainly don’t think that everyone needs to do the same exact kind of activism. But I do think that for me, in my very tiny platform and in my small ways, I need to be loud. I am probably preaching to the choir, I know that. But if I could somehow change one mind, it would be worth it.
Let’s pretend for a second that there is a person reading this who might genuinely be on the fence, or even thinking they’ll vote for the Orange Felon. My question to you is this: How, and why? What does this person offer you that is worth your soul? Put aside the fact that actual economists agree that he has no plan other than “we’ll make the economy great!” which I could also claim, and would be equally false. Even pretending he somehow could/would/gives a crap about your well-being, financial or otherwise, I ask you this: Is having an extra $20 a week worth the loss of human rights? Is it worth a child having to carry a rapist’s baby? Worth people of color being taunted and oppressed because he encourages hateful rhetoric? Worth queer folks’ marriages being dismantled? Worth people literally dying from preventable pregnancy complications? Worth the deportation of immigrants and refugees (of which we all were once, save the Natives)? Worth the nail in the coffin of democracy? This is what you are voting for when you vote for that man.
And to anyone who does so, thinking “well, it doesn’t effect me”, please understand that it makes you, quite literally, the definition of selfish. And I will say, without remorse, that you are absolutely a bad person. In fact, I daresay that no agenda could convince me otherwise. What possible agenda could you have in which it could? Don’t like abortion? Cool, don’t have one! And if you are voting for him because you’ve been a lifelong Republican, please remember that he has not and is not. You can be a Republican, and still understand that in this election, being a true Republican would mean voting for the Democrat, just this once. Be one of the people putting country before party. Be one of the people who puts the future of everyone ahead of their own narrow interests. Be the hero of the story instead of the villain.
Take it from Aaron Burr, sir.
Decades from now, there will be entire classes devoted to the psychology behind the Magat, how we got here, and hopefully how we can repair the damage. Maybe some people smarter than me will figure it all out, but not today. Today, we have to do what we can to ensure that we all are able to move forward with our rights intact, so let me lay a few things out:
- If you do not vote now, you may never have the chance again. Yes, it is that serious. Yes, he has publicly said this. So if you think “well, I don’t like the candidates” and stay home, please remember this: one of the candidates will allow you to choose again in four years. One will not.
- If you vote third party, you have thrown away your vote. Look, I get it, this two party system is a hot mess. But once again, I reiterate, now is not the time. If you vote for a third party, see above, because you might as well have not voted. If you want to find new candidates or parties, use the next four years to work on it.
- If you think “my vote will not make a difference”, you are wrong. Sure, if I didn’t vote, there would be one less vote, and that doesn’t seem like a lot. Then let’s say I tell my family this, and they too think “eh okay my vote doesn’t really matter either”, so they don’t vote. And they tell their friends, and so on. Now… no one has voted. What if we all had that mindset? You don’t get to sit this one out if you want to be part of the solution. (Also, local elections absolutely have been won and lost by one vote, just saying.)
I probably have just been shouting into the void, with my likeminded pals nodding along. But if there is a chance I got through to even one person, I’ll take it. It’s too important to not try.
So what can we do, other than vote?
- Volunteer! There is still time left, and jobs to do! I just signed up for text banking, and I wrote/sent out postcards (it might be too late for the latter, but not the former). You can also phone bank and canvass, and all kinds of other stuff.
- Donate! I have a monthly recurring donation (not a huge amount, just what I can) but I also have been throwing some extras when I can- both to the Harris campaign, and my local ones (Senate and Congress are both really big here in PA, and I have donated to Bob Casey and Matt Cartwright as well as my local state rep candidate, Megan Kocher.) In fact, I just did another round of $10 donations as I typed this up!
- Encourage friends and family to vote. I mean hey, let’s use peer pressure for good instead of evil, right? Help them get a plan to get to the polls. Offer to drive them, or buy stamps to mail in a ballot, anything. Call to double check, or heck, make a fun event out of going- voting, then Starbucks, perhaps?
That’s it, that’s all I’ve got. Check out some folks who know a lot more than I do, especially Celeste who has been an absolute godsend of information. Follow her and others she follows for great ways to get involved, and what you need to know. We can do this, I believe in us ♥♥
I dropped off my ballot at the beginning of October. It felt so good darkening in the box next to Kamala’s name. I am truly frightened for our country and the world if she doesn’t win. Living in Michigan, both candidates have been crisscrossing our state often and unfortunately, T&*#@ was in my hometown yesterday for a rally–too close for me. I also had to wait on the expressway, stopped for about 30 minutes while his motorcade passed through. I have band rehearsal at a polling place election night and part of me is worried about going out that night. I know that I won’t be truly able to concentrate on my music.
Dude, RIGHT!?! Momentous feeling. I am very frightened too. I am like- afraid to be hopeful, you know? Same here in PA- especially in NEPA, we are notoriously a very split area, and they’ve been here nonstop. Good news, the kids and I got to see Kamala, plus some state-level Dems, which was so cool. Bad news, the crappy one was here a lot too. I feel you about going out- I had to have a medical test done, and I scheduled it for the afternoon of the 6th so I could take off from work (there are no appointments later than 2, so I had to take a day off regardless, but I know I will sleep exactly zero hours that night!) And no matter how it goes down, it’s probably going to be ugly. Stay safe at band rehearsal!
Thank you for speaking out, Shannon! I’m flabbergasted that we are in this exact position again, and I’m shocked that the race is as close as it is. It means half the people in this country are selfish and uninformed (or just plain dumb) There, I said it. I voted early and I’m sitting on pins and needles until the race it over.
That is it- a combination of selfishness, stupidity, and outright racism. Because I will say it right here: if you vote for that man, you ARE a racist. Full stop. You cannot support someone who says those abhorrent things and then claim to think differently. They’re maybe just quieter racists Idk.
I also voted early, I am now stressing because our ballots have not been received (mine or my parents, sent from different places!) Because of THIS debacle where they canceled our first ones and resent them: https://www.pahomepage.com/election/your-local-election-headquarters/mail-in-ballots-with-misspelling-being-reissued-in-luzerne-county/
We submitted our ballots as soon as we got them. I am not surprised at how close the race is at all. I don’t understand it though.
sherry @ fundinmental
You know, I shouldn’t be. I really shouldn’t be at this point. But man, it is disheartening! I also sent mine back ASAP (though see above for the messiness locally!), glad you did too!
I applaud you for using your platform to speak up about the importance of voting, and especially for voting in this election. I truly don’t think my vote “counts”, in that the electoral college has shown they can be bought and totally disregard the popular vote they are meant to follow. We don’t live in a representative democracy, which is the system our culture implies we have. HOWEVER, I vote (always have, always will) because thousands of people, namely women, gave their lives so that I could have the right to vote. I owe it to the future, and to the past, to exercise my civil responsibility.
I don’t know the rationale behind voting for Trump- all ‘arguments’ I’ve heard have been for the rhetoric, meaning “I want to vote for this candidate because he allows me to safely air my racist or sexist beliefs”. They say, in public speaking, it’s 70% how you sound, not what you say. And he’s bombastic, so I think people who prefer the (actual! hormonal!) high of righteous indignation do and will disregard his dangerous words, make excuses for his bad behavior, etc. and are voting for him because they hope venting their spleen means positive change for them. These are generally the kinds of folks who want more benefits but fewer taxes and can’t articulate where the money could come from. So you can’t really have rational discussions with them about policy, because they’re voting with their emotions, and we all know (science has proven) that when you’re in your emotions, your ability to think rationally and articulate reason goes down the tubes. *Especially* when your dominant emotion is fear or anger.
All that said, I do know one person who won’t vote, and has said that if they did, they would vote Trump just to make this crumbling nation fall faster. So at least they recognize that fascist rhetoric and constant undermining of public trust in our governing institutions (like the election process) is the end of American Democracy and will lead to strife for generations. They also think that if Trump is elected, he’ll be deemed incompetent rather quickly, so that JD Vance can be put in charge (Vance is less publicly insane and has no integrity, so bad things can and will still happen to the population, but the nation will be propped up enough for the value of the dollar to stay high, so the 1% can continue to flourish). It’s an interesting conspiracy theory, but I hope there aren’t so many people disillusioned with this country that they’d vote for fascism just to end a failing experiment. Because this is the kind of end that means a LOT of (avoidable) suffering for the most vulnerable populations. And outside of asylum-seekers and legal immigrants (and Trump clearly has NO idea how that process works, the caps on it, etc.), most Americans have no clue what life under a dictator looks like, nor how to fight back, so you know it’ll be a long haul to rebuild.
In the end, I’m really unhappy about living in a climate of fear about everything- this election, climate change, the very clearly “not inflation” price gauging and affordable housing crises we’re in, tech outpacing our ability to defend ourselves against bad actors using it, the ongoing COVID crisis we’re not even addressing, a proxy war becoming larger, etc. It’s exhausting, and depressing, and literally the only thing I have control over, or the hope to change, is casting my ballot.
Thank you! You are right- it is NOT a true democracy, and won’t be unless and until the EC is dismantled completely. Of course, living in one of the few states where your vote *does* actually kind of matter makes me more determined than ever to vote. And like you said, people fought and died for that right, so. But also- if we never vote, it can never change. And I for one NEED it to change!
You make a ton of sense here. And I agree- I feel like you can *say* it is for some policy reason, but the truth is, Trump HAS no policy. He has even said so, very publicly! So yeah, it’s gotta be the hateful racist thing! What slays me extra is when the people he is actively hateful toward (women, POC, LGBTQ+, the list goes on for miles) vote for him! Is it… self-loathing? I truly cannot figure it out!
Wowww that is… certainly a hell of a take! I cannot believe that people would willingly put themselves in that scenario! Especially because- look, I agree about the competency bit, but NOT about Vance- I think there will/would be a HUGE power struggle internally, which would make the whole thing an even bigger clusterfuck (how is that even possible? No idea) but man, I do NOT want to be living in the actual Handmaid’s Tale. So I really hope we get four years to figure out how to not do that!
It IS exhausting. I have been so stressed, especially the last couple weeks, that I cannot even properly explain it. I mean- people don’t seem to understand the severity, and I cannot figure out how to make them. Must be fun to be so willfully ignorant, I guess?
I genuinely can’t imagine living in a swing state, where your vote counts more than hundreds of other people’s. No pressure, right?
I have the same confusion over POC, women, LGBTQIA, Latinx, etc. voting for a candidate who calls their community slurs, says they’re all criminals, and so on. Maybe it IS self-loathing? Or maybe they think they’ll get some measure of privilege if they do that, which is denied to them by being in that community? I think, for me, the most terrifying part of this has been seeing how much of this country’s population is deeply, violently hateful. I knew we had broken systems, but they’re clearly so bad that they’ve produced a broken population.
OMG my mom’s never read Handmaid’s Tale and I was trying to explain to her the story (and the show adaptation) and she started pointing out the parallels. Yup! First, they restrict access to health care. Then to education, finances, voting rights, etc. Harris and Walz’s cabinet, and the “good” Senators and Reps have a hell of a fight ahead of them, to find a way to permanently keep that from happening.
Oh, for sure people choose willful ignorance as a way to dodge taking responsibility for their actions. There’s a term for it in psychology, but I call it general assholery. Because it puts added pressure and stress on the rest of us, which is highly disrespectful, and it’s immature- they make the mess and the rest of us are forced to clean it up. I’ve always had a pet peeve against people able to self-educate on issues who just choose not to, especially when it comes to elections (*especially* local elections, where your voice counts for a lot).
I wish I could give you a hug and then, I dunno, clean your house or something to take some of the load off. You’ve got too much going on, though I understand it’s impossible to sidestep the stress of this week. On 60 Minutes last night, the best guess was that we’ll have preliminary results (enough to certify) by Thursday or Friday. Get those apocalypse BINGO cards ready!
I voted a few days ago. It’s hard to believe were in this same situation again. I’m tired. 🙂
I agree 1000%. While I am not a fan of getting into confrontational situations I do feel the need to educate those who are clearly delusional.
I’m so disappointed in this country for being here again. I’m surrounded by people who refuse to vote because they think it doesn’t affect them or because they don’t want to be called to jury duty. I can’t convince them otherwise. One didn’t even know the names of all the people running for vice president the other day. Heads in the sand.
It’s been disturbingly eye opening for this middle aged white lady to see how wildly racist our country still is. My teenager is dating a Trump supporter and I find it so upsetting. She was excited her first time voting is for a woman of color, but she also said with zero red flag awareness that she’s going to tell her boyfriend she voted for the felon.
Wow, Wendy – I just read an article about women lying to their husbands by saying they’re voting for Trump, and I couldn’t help but think what a messed-up situation that must be. I’m sorry that you have to watch your daughter in a relationship like that. My mom heart goes out to you!
Just like you, I’m having a hard time believing we’re in this situation again, and I’m also struggling to hold onto hope for this election (and for America!). I do think some people are just fully and positively brainwashed and they literally don’t see Trump’s rhetoric because the news outlets they watch leave it all out. (Or they don’t watch any news and just rely on what other people tell them about Trump.) But there are a disturbing number of people who are all-in on his messaging, and that literally makes me feel sick when I think about it. I always want to see good in people, but it’s getting harder and harder.