So many people I know have, once again, spent the past several months shouting from the rafters about the need to vote, that voting is THE WAY to make your voices heard. And in these close races, I certainly see the strategic benefit of it. But it's clearly not the only way or the best way to disrupt the system.
Whatever the final outcome, we are all now facing a sobering reality. At least twenty percent of our fellow Americans want Trump--who is (among other things) inarguably racist, sexist, and willing to undermine democratic elections to secure power--to continue as president. No assault on the Constitution, civil rights, or human decency was enough to persuade at least one in five of us that he's dangerously unfit to lead the nation.
We thought that with greater voter turnout, Biden would win by a comfortable margin. We were sure that when Americans really got out and voted, their rejection of Trump would be loud and obvious. To be sure, few people, least of all me, adore the prospect of a Biden presidency. But the prospect of a man who idolizes tyrants, teases at the notion of seizing indefinite rule, refuses to denounce white supremacists, and terrorizes children to deter refugees is so much worse. It won't be tolerated, we thought.
We were wrong.
Many people we've lived with our entire lives gleefully chose to rally behind a man who doesn't even try to hide his cruelty and zeal for bullying. Many of our family members kept quiet during family political discussions while silently planning to vote for Trump. Once again, we underestimated not only the bigotry of many Americans, but also their hatred for the left.
So many people I know have, once again, spent the past several months shouting from the rafters about the need to vote, that voting is THE WAY to make your voices heard. And in these close races, I certainly see the strategic benefit of it. But it's clearly not the only way or the best way to disrupt the system. Voting can do nothing to change the value makeup of this country. And people who demand we vote as our "civic duty" forget that voting is, at best, the bare minimum you can do to influence the political process. Showing up to the polls on Election Day after 4, 8, 12, 20 years of refusing to confront hypocrisy on both sides is akin to doing no exercise for a decade and then showing up to a marathon expecting to win. It's lazy and self-serving, and it's why we keep finding ourselves blindsided.
We have to stay informed all the time, especially when your preferred candidate wins. We have to challenge the tyranny of the ones in power, especially when they're the ones we rallied for. We have to call out bullying, racist, sexist, homophobic comments every time we encounter them, whether it's a boss or a grandparent or a romantic partner who makes them. We have to make the drug war, criminal justice reform, wars, guns, abortions our issues, even when they don't overtly affect us. We have to challenge our own ideas about what should and shouldn't be legal, especially when we feel strongly about an issue. We have to stop turning our political figures into gods and heroes, because then we'll be unable to recognize it when they falter or outright betray us (looking at you, RGB and Obama idolators).
We also have to help those of us who truly will suffer under the next regime, regardless of who takes the oath of office. Think about an immigrant family, a Syrian child who is afraid to play outside because she's seen drones kill her friends, a single mother trying to get her kid into a charter school because the district she lives in is terrible. Think about the families of people incarcerated for drug possession, gun possession, or school truancy. Think about sex workers (especially LGBTQ ones) who the police target for abuse. Think about people who may have to endure a pandemic without health insurance. Spend your frustrated energy thinking about how you can help someone who will suffer more than you from the results of this election. Spend as much time and effort as you spent on getting the vote out on helping someone who will be in Trump's or Biden's cross hairs when this is all over.
To everyone who has repeatedly said, "if you don't vote, you can't complain," you need to realize that thought is, at best, incomplete.
- If you don't openly and consistently challenge the status quo when it comes from a loved one, you can't complain.
- If you don't talk about it critically when someone from your party commits an atrocity, you can't complain.
- If you don't acknowledge and fight the flaws in our system that allow this "lesser of two evils" standard to continue in perpetuity, you can't complain.
- If you don't find ways besides voting to help the oppressed, you can't complain.
I'm sorry we're here today, I really am. But I hope we all recognize that we can do better right now, not just four years from now when we get to vote again.