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Election Day Changes essay By Corey Anton |
With election time coming up, we’ve all heard lots of people saying, “Don’t forget to get out there and vote.” They say, “You have a right to vote: exercise your rights.” I don’t disagree at all. Legislation and governance are crucial for a well functioning democracy. But still, we don’t seem to hear enough regarding the need for informed voting. And seriously, if certain individuals need others to tell them when election day has arrived and then further need special prodding to get off the couch and go cast a ballot, can we really believe that such hoi polloi are likely to be informed citizens? The point here is that we hear a good number of people clamoring about citizens’ rights and yet rarely do we hear people speak of citizens’ obligations and responsibilities. Moreover, election time frenzy may, unfortunately, lead some people to underestimate and neglect other forms of social change.
Admittedly, some people, largely those who organize political rallies and who organize outreaches on election day, are probably pretty informed and active, but I’m not sure how many people have any idea how congress really works, or what a day in the life of the average politician consists of, or even what/who is on the ballot of many of the local and regional and state elections. Now, given what was just said, consider all the money and time and energy and effort in what amounts to a huge dog and pony show, a televised, advertised, publicized, and all too commonly criticized competition between two largely similar parties. People spend tons of dollars, make huge investments in rally materials, banners, pamphlets and the like, and we have to ask, “Is all of this stuff worth it?”
Getting people excited about the election is fun stuff and can be empowering, especially when those elections bear so heavily upon social change and progress. But, on the other hand, we need to be sure that the kind of change that we really want and need does not become confused with the social bonding and communion we feel in smelling the warm huddle of fellow campaign groupies. We need to be sure that we do not fall victim to simple partisan thought or succumb to participating in politics as a beauty pageant and popularity contest.
Alfred Korzybski, the founder of the Institute of General Semantics, once observed that democracy presupposes the intelligence of the masses. He further suggested that a misinformed democracy under modern conditions can create a worse human mess than any dictatorship in previous centuries. Do you want to get educated? A good place to start is to read Ben Bagdikian’s The Media Monopoly, where you’ll learn the names: Richard Parsons, Sumner Redstone, Michael Eisner, Reinhard Mohn, and, of course, Rupert Murdock. These five guys, and their respective corporations, own almost all the dominant mass media systems in the U.S. That’s right, these five guys are as influential, perhaps even more influential, than most politicians.
Seriously, we need to think carefully about the possibilities of change, and we should not let other strategies and possibilities get eclipsed during the parade of political antics and campaign frenzies. We need to be wary of spending too much money, energy, and time where little good can be done. We also need to be cautious of election-time emotions, which can be defeatist on either end: people whose candidate did not win think, “Oh no, now we’re doomed.” And for those poor souls whose candidate does win, they have to suffer through the humiliating fact that the win does not necessarily bring about the great changes once anticipated. Again: “Oh no, now we’re doomed.”
Please don’t misunderstand me. Your vote counts, and this country needs your well-informed vote. But for all that, don’t believe that it will make much of a difference in transforming your everyday life or how you go about your business at your workplace. Don’t be unrealistic about the kinds of changes that are possible through the current governmental arrangements. And, on the other hand, never underestimate your power to change the world by tiny acts of local kindness and beauty.
Get informed, help educate others, and vote. But at no point spend so much energy and time and effort on the dog and pony show that you forget how the world becomes a glorious place to live. Individuals have to actively bring about the kind of world they’ve always dreamed of. Einstein once suggested that “Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.” Likewise, many of the kinds of changes that people most want to see cannot be brought about by elections or governmental administration and oversight. Such changes cannot be voted upon. They are brought about by thoughtful and courageous individuals who are committed to ongoing acts of local engagement, to random acts of goodwill, to artistic passions, and to changing the world one conversation at a time.
People should not pretend that they are mere bystanders in the world. They should be asking themselves and responding to the question: how is the world made better because we are here and because we are doing what we are doing?
