Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Now

Good morning, Americans! How are you doing today?

I will be the first to tell you that I am not any kind of a political or historical expert. I’m the artsy-fartsy one in my set—and in my family. Of course, you can’t grow up listening to people debate the Magna Carta, Hobbes and Locke, or Reconstruction, among other things, without picking up an idea or two.

And, believe me, when the other kids are playing Robinhood and Prince John is the bad guy, you will NOT make any friends by pointing out that if he hadn’t caved to the barons and signed the Magna Carta, we might not have the rights we have today.

In any case, there hasn’t seemed to be much place for the pure thinkers, the writers, the artsy-fartsy people in recent days as we struggle to elect our next president. Yet I’ve always believed that those folks, the artsy-fartsy ones, offer the world visions of what might be. Then the statesmen, inventors, engineers, and leaders—the sensible folks—make the best visons real.

Here’s my vision for our country: start now.

Republican reformers and loyal Democrats, Democratic reformers and loyal Republicans, start refining your parties’ platforms now. Start standing for something now rather than falling for anything later. Start now by supporting the representatives within your party who responsibly represent their constituents. Start reviewing your policies and procedures now. Start discussing term limit reform, campaign finance reform, and districting reform now. Start now—listen, learn, apply the lessons.

Independents, skeptics, and outliers—would you like more options? Start now. Educate yourself now. Run for local office now. Find others who share your views and get your third parties rolling now, not in the summer of 2020.

I have hope now. I have a vision for the future because of what is happening now.

The last few elections have shown that previously disinterested, disenchanted, and disenfranchised citizens of our country can mobilize and raise passionate voices, altering the nation’s discourse.

This most recent election has shown the power of every single vote. Just the math for Florida alone boggles the mind—as of this writing, Florida’s 29 electoral votes were awarded by a margin of approximately 129,000 popular votes out of 9,350,000 or about 1900 votes per county. Every vote counts.

Our recent election has given me a vision of our country accepting, considering, and electing women, political outsiders, and third party candidates as often as traditional candidates. Our country is on its way to drawing from its entire pool of talent to govern wisely, according to the will of the people.

Start now. It's a new day. Start now.