Vote, Vow & GOTV

To strengthen participatory democracy, women's rights, socioeconomic opportunity, ecological regeneration, racial equality, and peace and nonviolence

We Americans have seven months before we vote in our critical local, state, and national elections. Constitutional democracy itself is on the ballot. Women’s rights are on the ballot. Climate change mitigation and adaptation are on the ballot. Socioeconomic opportunities for all are on the ballot.

On one side, we have those committed to representational democracy, religious freedom, gender and racial equality, social and economic opportunity for all, and environmental regeneration - a vibrant society based on compassion. We want to have a wealth tax on billionaires, protect women’s rights, mitigate and adapt to climate change, protect and increase Social Security, Medicare, affordable health care, and Medicaid, forgive student loans, strengthen voting rights, protect the LGBTQ community, support unions, lower drug costs, improve gun regulations, support Ukraine, and more.

The Biden Administration has passed the largest economic recovery since Roosevelt, the largest infrastructure plan since Eisenhower, the largest climate change bill in history, the largest student loan forgiveness ever, the first gun control bill in decades, the second largest health care bill since Johnson, confirmed the most judges since Kennedy, strengthened the IRS to get millionaires to pay their taxes, codified gay marriage, and enabled the lowest unemployment in decades. The Administration also supports national abortion protection legislation, a billionaire wealth tax, strong unions, raising the minimum wage, and more.

On the other side, we have many of the superrich, the so called “Christian nationalists”, the racists, and the Russian sympathizers who want our nation to be a plutocratic, theocratic, fascist state based on control. They want to give tax cuts to billionaires and millionaires, control women’s decisions and bodies, cut Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and affordable health care, forgive and elect insurrectionists, limit voting rights, harm the LGBTQ community, have no gun regulations, have an authoritarian administration, deny climate change, support Russian expansionism, weaken unions, and more. These people are our fellow citizens, and we care about them. We can try to help them let go of confusion, anger, fear, hatred, control, or greed, and come home to understanding and compassion.

Unfortunately, there is no third choice. A vote for a so called third party candidate cannot help and can do great harm as it did in 2000 with votes for Ralph Nader keeping Gore from winning. Some day hopefully, and with hard work, we can have multiple, viable parties. And some day hopefully, we can have rank choice voting. But this November, we have two choices: control by the few for the benefit of the few, or caring for all the people and the natural world.

What can you and I do to help GOTV (get out the vote)? I am meeting with our local Democratic party precinct members to prepare to knock on doors, make phone calls, send postcards, encourage early voting and mail in ballots, volunteer at voting sites, volunteer to take people to the polls, and more. Please check with your local Democratic party office on how you can get involved.

We can also write Op Eds for the local newspaper, speak at meetings, hold discussions and workshops, give interviews on podcast, Zoom, video, radio, and television, join groups such as Third Act for people over sixty (I joined) or the Sunrise Movement for youth, talk with family members and neighbors, and support candidates in the swing states of North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Nevada, and Arizona.

We also need to push the Biden Administration and Congress to pass universal basic income (UBI), make voting mandatory, create voting holidays, make gerrymandering illegal, reduce the Pentagon’s budget, promote world peace, stop extracting and burning fossil fuels, have Medicare for All, enlarge the Supreme Court, and more.

In this challenging time, please remember to take good care of your body-mind. Practice being aware of breathing in and breathing out, in the here and in the now, in love and in gratitude. Get enough sleep, exercise, and healthy food. Remember that you are part of the living Earth and this mysterious Cosmos. Spend time in great nature. Listen to music. Read. Write in your journal. Review for what you are grateful. Stay in touch with and care for friends and loved ones. Embrace the reality of interbeing and continuous change in all things. And keep believing that we can catalyze and embody a compassionate, ecologically sound community, nation, and world.

We can do this. We must do this. Let’s do it! For readers in other countries, I wish you happy voting.

The word “vote” is from the Latin “votum” which is a vow. Moment by moment, we can vow to care for people and planet.

Please like, comment, subscribe, and share this essay with others. As always, I look forward to hearing from you.

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The next Compassionate Conversation will be on May 1st, 2024, the one year anniversary of my writing on Substack, and will be essay no.19. How many have you read? What is your favorite? What would you like for me to write about?