"Snap Out Of It!"

Our current leadership feels it is America’s duty to teach the rest of the world about freedom and democracy, apparently believing that we “do democracy” best. And yet a look at the numbers presents a different picture.

In the 2000 Presidential election, only 59.5% of eligible U.S. voters bothered to make it to the polls. Over the last three decades, our average voting percentage was a mere 55%. Over the same thirty year period, 91% of Italy’s eligible voters cast their ballots and in Australia, where voting is compulsory and a person can be fined for missing a vote, the voting percentage was 84%. Some other impressive percentages include: Sweden (85%), Belgium (84%), Denmark (83%), France (74%), Germany (79%), Greece (85%), Spain (76%), The Netherlands (81%) and the United Kingdom (72%). (Source: http://www.idea.int - International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance).

Remarkable new technologies now present us with a delightful media schmorgasboard from which to choose. How do you like your news and information served? Cable or satellite television? Radio? Internet? Newspapers? Magazines? And how would you like that done? Liberal? Conservative? Independent? Left of Center? Right of Center? Middle-of-the-Road? One would think this communications explosion would serve to educate and enroll citizens into a wonderfully open and wide-ranging discussion of the issues and that this would, in turn, translate into a higher voter turnout. Unfortunately, it instead seems to have repelled the public, causing them to retreat into media comfort zones. This results in a form of bootstrapping, where people first decide what they believe and then simply cozy up to the information source supporting only that fixed view. Does this method promote a healthy democracy? I’d like to believe the free and open “marketplace of ideas” still exists, and that people still shop at all the vendors. Unfortunately, I don’t think this is the case.

In his speech at the recent Democratic National Convention, Jimmy Carter expressed, “At stake is nothing less than our nation’s soul,” referring to the upcoming election. Those poignant words confirmed something I have been feeling about the current political climate and I can only hope others feel the same way. Unfortunately, we won’t know if this is the case until the final voting percentage is tallied. Tested every four years, that number is the purest measure of our democratic blood pressure.

“There’s no one to vote for.”
“All politicians are the same.”
“It’s always the lesser of two evils. I don’t like either candidate.”
“There are no true leaders anymore.”
“My vote doesn’t mean anything anyway, so why should I vote?”

We have all expressed such sentiments at one time or another. Apathy manifests itself in many ways and it is natural to occasionally tune out from the noise. However, to then allow that feeling to cause us to back away from the process and bury our collective heads in the sand? This is a perilous practice. The danger of a dwindling interest and the resulting vacuum created by it, is that it allows a powerful self-interested sector to sneak in and exploit this void for their own benefit while we’re looking the other way. Such a weak and lazy “whatever” mind-set produces a view-from-the-sidelines approach to democracy which, in turn, allows others to choose what is best for us. Now I ask – does that feel good to you?

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I remember a time when foreigners respected the United States and what it represented. Words like “HOPE,” “CARE,” and “Peace Corps” come to mind. Back in the 1960’s, the United States exported more than just its military muscle, pop music, movies, fast food and dream-teams. Although far from perfect, much of the world viewed our governmental system as a stellar example of how democracy can work. I, for one, still think the United States is special and believe it is now time to back up what we recommend to others by first acknowledging our shortcomings and then by taking action to improve on them.

Jimmy Carter concluded his Convention speech with the following phrase:

“I believe tonight, as I always have, that the essential decency, compassion and common sense of the American people will prevail.”

I would add only one thing to that sentiment: our common sense will prevail only if we take action by voting on November 2. It has never been more important to do so.

Before we go around preaching that democracy is the best way to live, it might be a good idea to practice it first here at home.