THE FUTURE DOESN’T WAIT FOR US
I’ve spent a good part of my life fighting for things that once seemed impossible. I’ve marched in the streets, worked on campaigns, challenged government in the courts, and watched ordinary people accomplish things that powerful people assured us couldn’t be done. I’ve also watched us lose battles I thought we’d won for good.
But progress is never permanent simply because we achieved it once. Every generation inherits both the victories and the unfinished business of the generations before it. And every generation gets to decide what happens next too.
This November 3rd, that decision belongs to us.
But we must assert our right to help decide what happens next.
Truth is decisions will be made whether you vote or not, but the consequences of those votes will belong to all of us. The people elected this November will have enormous power. When we walk away, we don’t stop those decisions from being made. We simply leave them to somebody else.
Decisions about sweeping environmental rollbacks. About what happens to the 70+% of those currently held in ICE detention who have no criminal convictions. About Medicaid cuts and surging health insurance premiums. About sky high energy and interest rates. About the freedom to make decisions about our own bodies and the right to love whom we choose. All while the man in the Whitehouse counts his 24-karat gold leafing and demolishes our historic federal landmarks.
And in the middle of the ballot the people we elect will direct our future from the bench at the NC Supreme Court and others who will head out to Washington to either push back or cave. Our choice. Further down the ballot are candidates who will decide if the NC State legislature will still have the votes to continually override all the Governor’s vetoes of bad bills. Our choice.
Following even further down the ballot are local candidates who will decide the schools our children attend. The cost of a home. The water we drink. How your taxes are spent. The future of our mountains, our farms, our rivers, and the communities we call home. And last but not least are three Constitutional Amendments that don’t even say what they mean and that are either unnecessary, that starve revenues for our local communities to improve public schools, infrastructure, disaster recovery, and healthcare; and that give windfalls to luxury developers and corporate landlords at the expense of our community.
These aren’t some kind of abstract political arguments.
These are our lives they’re talking about.
You can bet that the people who want to control your choices will vote. Power doesn’t sit around waiting for everyone to agree. It goes to the people who exercise it. And a ballot is one of the few places where an ordinary citizen can walk into a room and exercise power. Think about that. For all the money spent on campaigns, all the powerful interests trying to influence government, all the noise and anger and manipulation, there remains this extraordinary act:
You can vote. And your vote counts just as much as the vote of the wealthiest person in the county.Someone will decide where we go from here. Why shouldn’t it be you?
THE FUTURE IS NOT SOMETHING THAT HAPPENS TO US.
I’ve lived long enough to learn that history doesn’t move in a straight line toward justice. It moves because people push it. Sometimes we move forward. Sometimes we get knocked backward. Sometimes the best we can do is prevent something worse while we gather the strength to fight another day.
But none of those efforts is wasted. Because democracy isn’t a single election, a single victory, or a single generation’s accomplishment. It’s the work we pass from one generation to the next.
AND NOW IT’S YOUR TURN.
I have my opinions about the candidates on this year’s ballot. You’ll find them throughout Pam’s Picks, along with the research that led me to those judgments. You may agree with me. You may disagree with me. You may think I’ve completely lost my mind about somebody. That’s fine too. So read. Question. Argue. Change your mind if the evidence warrants it.