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Dear Friend and Reader:
Today is Election Day in the United States, long-awaited, anticipated and the focus of much anxiety. Today is the day to brave voting lines, interrupt your schedule, miss hours or a day of work, all to do what may seem futile.
We have a lot of problems in the world and as a country; as individuals we have plenty on our hands. Voting may seem like a small gesture — and it is.
If you recognize that, and see it in perspective, it will be more meaningful. In last week’s edition, I explained the presidency through the experience of John F. Kennedy. It’s similar to what my Grandpa Sam Francis explained to me as a kid — the president is a figurehead position.
Yet it carries considerable power even as such — and your participation is more than symbolic. In fact your involvement is has influence on many levels, including locally and on the statewide level. Before you vote, take a quick look if there are any referenda on the ballot — some of the most significant issues are decided by the voters in many states.
It’s true that we’re seeing a broken system at work, one that was designed to keep the people as far from the electoral process as possible, and that has been fractured intentionally, and neglected, and abused. We’re about to see the extent of the problems.