I have been on a journey the past months. Impending retirement does that to you. On June 15th, I will be ending a nearly 26 year career in communications education on the college level. I have been asking “Where to from here?”, and trying to figure out where “here” is so that I have an idea which way is forward. The past fills my present. I don’t celebrate “Star Wars Day”; the 4th of May is Kent State Remembrance Day for me. The echoes of "Oxford Town," “What’s Going On,” “For What It’s Worth” and “Once I Was” have been playing through my mind daily like the underscore to the prequel of my adult life. Part of this process has been to share it with readers here at Daily Kos, hoping that by writing the words I might find the meanings that would help me answer the question for myself. I believe I have found some answers. I think I have a plan.
Back in the day, I was involved in a small way in the labor movement, and on the fringes of the peace movement. I marched in support of the Chicago Eight, and again when they became the Chicago Seven. In that time, we would say things like “What if they gave a war, and nobody came?” or “Power to the people” and “If you don’t vote, don’t bitch.” So a few weeks back I asked myself the question, “Is it a democracy if nobody votes?” As I turned the implications of that question over in my mind, I reflected back on the powerful response of my student employees to the last presidential election, and read the countless diaries about the election. I understand the anger and disappointment, but aging does change a person. My body reminds me each morning that there is more behind me than ahead of me. That I don’t have time enough left to spend it tearing things down. But still, I might have time enough to build something that matters. And so I have been looking for a way to leave the world a better place for it having endured my presence upon it.
I tend to look at things… well everything, I guess… as networks of interlocking relationships. I am “data-driven” and visualize the relationships between data points on a three dimensional wireframe in my mind where every piece of data occupies a given point. I won’t bother with the details, but one night as I visualizing the inter-relationships between various demographic, political and social affinity groups and, in my mind's eye, I started drawing vectors from one group to another. At their intersection, they created a point that had an effect on the potential for success for any and all of them even if only that one data point was moved. That data point was degree of political engagement as measured by voter participation. The vote is simply the most powerful tool that any group has in a democracy. Don’t use that tool, and you can be ignored. Use it, and your voice can be reflected in a government assembly. Don’t use it and you will be shaped by a future of someone else's design. Use it, and you can help shape the future. If you doubt the power of that tool, just remember what you felt the morning of Nov.9, 2016, and then think of all that has come to pass in the interim.
I see voting as a universal issue, but not just because it affects progress on every issue. It is something more. It is a point of commonality, an act of community. Large numbers of people can be ruled by a few when those large numbers of people are broken down into smaller groups that prevent them uniting in common cause. But what if each group recognizes the power of the ballot in their work, and that every group shares that recognition in common? Perhaps they will see that one particular point of common purpose is pretty unconfrontational stuff, and therefore, easy to collaborate on. And if just one member of each group, working on voting issues as part of that group’s mission, joins together with the "voting issues" person in other groups, more points of commonality will be discovered along the way as they work towards their shared goal of getting more people to the polls. The more that people work together in any endeavor, the more they discover the likenesses in each other, and from that allegiances can be formed. This work would not rob the individual voice of any group, as working on the voting aspect would not change anything about a group’s individual calling. There would simply be a part of that work that is done in concert with other groups.
There is another aspect of voting that is a more significant key to progress than we might at first assume. For me, voting is not just about the ballot and election outcomes. It is about bringing people together. It is about creating power in numbers to offset the resources of a powerful few... which is the intention of democracy in the first place. It is taking the unity of the action we share with other voters on election day, and spreading it over the entire year as we work to bring more voters into the process. This is key to me, in that those who did not go to the polls (over 40%) on Nov. 8 are the ones who determined who would lead us. Please note: I am not placing blame with any person or group in that each and every grain of sand is necessary to tip the balance of any scale, and any one of them could be judged as being "the one" to tip the scale. But the point is this; if we look at a group, for example, the 18-30 year old demographic (and there were others, but the data for this particular example is strong and unequivocal), if they had participated in the election in the same percentages as the 60+ voters, and that vote had split along the lines of those in that 18-30 age group that did vote, it would have been an electoral college landslide for Madame President. One thing that may have had a negative impact on their turnout would be that many were first time voters who, because of their enrollment in colleges and universities, were not just voting for the first time, but registering and absentee voting while living away from home for the first time in their life. The process should be more simple, and support for their specific needs should be made available by those who care about democracy and citizenship.
There were many other groups of non-participants as well. What would their vote have been, if cast? How large a problem is apathy? What would it take to convince the apathetic to become part of the voting populace? Is it solely a problem of motivation? Are there things about the process we can address? What if the non-participant were found to be more open to reason than a Trump ideologue? Would not the effort to bring them into the process be more likely to suceed than trying to change the position of someone for whom "facts don't matter"? If they are open to reason about participating in the electoral process, would we not expect them to make reasonable choices on election day as well? At the very least, those would be far more pleasant conversations than trying to reason with those who believe they are in possession of the revealed truth.
For this approach to work, the right to vote must be unencumbered and disenfranchisement fought at every turn, for a participatory form of self-government requires participation in the electoral process. It can not effectively reflect all of us unless all of our voices are heard. Any statute, ordinance, custom or practice that inhibits ballot access must be fought. Everything possible must be explored to encourage voter turnout. And it is also time to explore how to react to our more mobile society. We are no longer a nineteenth century society where the majority of the population never leaves the community that they were born into. We may reside in one community, work in another, and have legitimate socio-political concerns about both, and our commuting may be taking place over the Internet . Our work may require cyclical movement among groups of communities throughout the year, so which community is our home? Do we even have a primary residence? We need to answer these questions in a way that supports the notion that we should have a political voice in the governing bodies that affect our lives.
And so, starting June 16th, I am dedicating the remainder of my life to issues around the act of voting: registration, participation, disenfranchisement, and integrity of the voting process. It will be my new full-time job. The first months will be spent in research, finding out as much as I can about these issues, local, state and national. I will be contacting every group that has historically dealt with these issues. When I have done my preparation, I will begin contacting every political and social issue group in my area, getting to know them and the work they do. I will do my best to discover ways to organize individuals from each group to work together on voting issues and voter education. Where we succeed and where we fail will inform how we move forward. Along the way, I'll try to "report back" about the experience, so that we can have conversations about what works, what doesn't work, and what possibilities should be explored.
If you have had any experience working in these areas and have information or sources to help me begin, please let me know. If you would rather not do that in the comments, then by all means, Kosmail me.
Peace.