The Necessary Question

 

As I write at Noon on the day after Election Day, we do not know who has been elected President of the United States. And that is not a problem to me. Certainly I would like to know the outcome of the election, but more important than my interest in information is that every vote is counted. It should not be a surprise to anyone that there is a lot of vote counting yet to do. A few days of patience could do us all some good--and provide some space for reflection.

Whether or not the election turns out the way I would prefer, one thing that is clear is that we are a country that appears to be very divided in our view of the past four years and our vision for the future. I do think that it matters who we elect as President, BUT it cannot be the factor that determines our national--and my personal--destiny. No matter who is elected, I must translate my view of the past and my hope for the future into tangible actions that I control. Yuval Lenin wrote an opinion piece in the New York Times this morning that framed the necessary question: 

It can begin with a simple question, asked in little moments of decision: “Given my role here, what should I be doing?” As a parent or a neighbor, a pastor or a congregant, an employer or an employee, a teacher or a student, a legislator or a citizen, how should I act in this situation? We ask that question to recover relational responsibility.

A failure to ask that question — and so to accept the obligations that come with whatever positions and privileges we have in our lives — is behind many of the most significant problems we face. It’s why so many of our fellow Americans have been left feeling that our institutions have failed to treat them like human beings.

As a citizen, husband, father, grandfather, neighbor, employee, manager, friend, and consumer, what should I be doing? As I ask this question, it forces me to consider and accept my own responsibility--in the context of interpersonal relationships--for what kind of future I will work to create. If I believe that our society needs to address the opportunity gap that arises from economic inequality, what am I going to do about that? If I believe that our society must protect and support all life, what am I going to do to support my view? If I believe that refugees deserve support, protection, and a safe place to heal and thrive, what am I going to do to help? NOT what should the government do, but what will I do?

I wonder whether asking and answering the "necessary question" will keep me busy enough that I won't really have time or energy to spend on what anyone else is doing or not doing? And I wonder if that might be a better outcome than decrying someone else's inaction or contrary actions?

Pressing On!

I Voted -- now the waiting

Now that I have voted, here are my final thoughts on the 2020 Presidential election:

As I write on October 29^th, 2020, many polls seem to be indicating a movement toward a Biden victory next week—but who knows? One thing that does seem pretty certain is that those people in the U.S. who are expressing opinions are deeply divided. While the campaign does not feel to me like it is as contentious and nasty as 2016, I cannot say whether that is because the tone is actually less abrasive, or whether our sense of civil propriety has been numbed over the past four years to the point where muddy looks clean.

Either way things turn out I am concerned. If Donald Trump is re-elected, I am concerned that, at best, we will get more of what we have seen the past four years:  the same incivility; the same indifference to the poor and disenfranchised; the same intolerance of differences of opinion; the same hostility toward immigrants and those who have labored for generations under the weight of racial and economic disparity; and the same disengagement from international commitments and cooperation. If he is re-elected, I am not sure that there is anything he could say that would allay my concerns.

If Joe Biden is elected, I am concerned about how far the pendulum will swing. While I can no longer support what the Republican party seems to have become, I also cannot fully embrace the Democratic platform—and that gives me pause. What would allay my concerns—and garner my full support—is if Joe Biden were to lay out just three priorities for his administration:

1.       Address and deal with the coronavirus pandemic. This would involve supporting health care workers and the development of an effective vaccine; implementing policies and approaches to public gatherings and personal behavior to slow the spread of the virus; and sufficient federal economic assistance so that when we emerge from under the cloud of the pandemic, we are economically viable enough to be able to work toward recovery and reduction of the debt we have incurred.

2.       Focus efforts toward making our national motto—e pluribus unum (out of many, one)—a reality. This would involve meaningful work to understand and address disparities in opportunity and achievement based on race, economic, and immigration status; meaningful and humane immigration reform that prioritizes legal immigration and clarifies refugee considerations; and civics education that promotes knowledgeable, respectful public discourse.

3.       Refresh the United States’ place in the global community of nations. This would involve restoring the view and practice that the United States is a reliable and trusted friend and ally—as well as an honest and determined adversary; and re-engaging with other nations on equitable trade, human rights, and climate concerns.

If a Biden administration could get us on track with real movement related to these three priorities, I believe that his presidency would be both a short- and the long-term success worth celebrating.

My “nightmare” scenario is that when this election cycle is over, the American people remain as polarized, divided, and entrenched as now—whether due to the actions and words of the vanquished or the victor; or the unwillingness to accept that “our” candidate came up short in the bigger, state-wide and national picture.

I cannot control what anyone else thinks or does, but I can wrangle my thoughts, words, and actions into alignment with what I believe about how we should treat one another in civil society. David Brooks wrote an opinion piece in today’s New York Times that resonated with me and I will close with his last four paragraphs:

 “Nobody has emerged unscathed. Those of us in the anti-Trump camp will be smiled upon by history I imagine, but we might pause for a moment to consider the mote in our own eye. Our own sins are the only ones we can control.

Over the past four years we've poured out an hourly flow of anti-Trump diatribes and in almost every case they rise to the top of the charts--most liked, most retweeted, most read. 

Even when justified, permanent indignation is not a healthy emotional state. We've become a little addicted to our own umbrage, addicted to that easy feeling of moral superiority, addicted to the easy affirmation bath we get when we repeat what we all believe. Trump-bashing has become a business model. Politics has become a way to define and identify your identity, and that is elevating politics to too central a place in life. He's made life all about himself, and a lot of us too readily played along.

Here’s one thing we will never be able to shake, the awareness that our basic standards of decency are more fragile than we thought; the awareness that any year, some new leader may come along and bring us back to a world of no bottom.”