AND SO I DID NOT VOTE ... HERE'S WHY

First, out the gate let’s clear up the title of the post. It’s an attention grabber, not my personal action. Not only did I vote, but I voted early, carefully, with critical cognition and a sincere regard for both perspectives. As I have said and will continue to say we must ALL vote, and vote with an ever-aspiring critical thinking mind. 

And vote in this manner is exactly what I did, following my own process of 3FE: Find, Focus, establish the Fundamentals, Execute. I followed the process with a regard for first myself, then my family, then my community, my town, city, state, and nation. That is the 3FE critical thinker’s process, and I adhered to it. 

Now, to be sure I was visibly shaken by the election’s outcome, but I rationalized the results and looked only at the facts, pushing back any negative emotions. I understand just how deeply divided our nation is, how daunting it is to cross the ideological divide. However, to still see so many of my fellow Americans stay aligned with the Trump agenda was for me very disappointing. It speaks loudly to tribalism, identity politics, me-first culture, compassionless perspective, and plain outright fear, which when stoked appropriately can descend into outright racism and actions antithetical to the uplift of humans in a descent and dare I say it Christian capacity. Truly, what would Jesus do? 

The facts of the situation exposed a flaw in the Critical Thinker’s approach to voting. However, that is not the focus of this post. It’s about those out there who still refuse to vote, those who stand proud as non-participants in the process. It’s about those who refuse to exercise the franchise. 

I felt compelled to write this after seeing a post about people jumping on Keri Hilson for voicing her frustration with non-voters. In searching for a good image I found a blog article by Jay Alan detailing his reasons for not voting in 2016. The image I’m using is the same one he used. After reading his article I felt the need to respond, but as ever respond with a mind for perspective and a desire to close the divide, to find common ground, because that is what ever-aspiring critical thinkers are supposed to do. 

In Jay’s article (link at end of this article) his primary complaint is people telling him he does not have a right to complain about the government and its elected officials if he did not vote. He’s absolutely right. He definitely has the right to complain. In fact my hope would be that his complaining and posting would be loud enough to draw positively engaging people with counterpoints. Of course, given our online culture any dialogue would probably attract far more negative people and the discussion would descend into ad-hominem attacks and trolling. We have to move beyond this type of combative online convo. We have to aspire to be better. 

As I read the rest of Jay’s article I had to smile. To me, the solution is a simple matter of continued thought and consideration, a desire to do something, anything to make things better, no matter how small.  Primarily Jay’s article is actually a powerful treatise on why everyone that can should exercise the franchise, complete with horrifying pictures of a future apocalypse through rising despotism in a fascist regime. It’s almost funny.  

He says it himself, nothing’s changing, things are getting no better. Logically, literally logically, things do not get better when doing nothing results in nothing being done. Deepen the logic. Inaction can have a positive result if the variables of the situation tend towards better outcomes, that is if one does not act upon the situation. Sometimes leaving something alone can make it better, or allow it to heal. However, examine our politics through the same lens. Inaction upon our polity does not move politicians, or the policies they enact. People live in push and pull. If we do neither, then our desired outcome has little to no chance of occurring. In his article he clearly wants things to get better. This will not happen if he does not participate in the process.

The same applies to those that are attacking Keri Hilson. Online I saw people talking about how she hasn’t had a song in ten years, so she needs to take several seats or something. One has nothing to do with the other, more ad-hominem attacks. 

I saw one guy say he puts his faith in God and does good work in the community through education and helping kids, and that his vote is a waste of time and energy. He says that all his faith and energy in God will win the day. I’m sorry to say, this man clearly does not understand the way his world works. Living in the world you believe in, carries great value. I will never fault a person for their belief in God. 

However, it has become abundantly clear to me that God truly helps those who help themselves. And in this world, if you would have a positive impact on children and the educational system then you must do all you can to penetrate the politics of education. This man clearly does not understand how his tax dollars are allocated, why they are allocated the way they are allocated, and how that school superintendent who he refused to vote for or against has a direct impact on just how much money is available to do good work for schools in his community.

It’s simple really. Either you participate and help change things or you don’t. If things aren’t to your liking, and you don’t participate, then yes you are free to complain. Just excuse the rest of us if we decide to tune you out. The best of us will wait for you to stop complaining, and then we’ll try to get you to participate. 

But look, you can’t be mad at those of us who call you all kinds of names and say you are disgracing your ancestors. You may think you aren’t, but you are. If you are American-African then your ancestors died in numbers so you could exercise the franchise. Make no mistake, you are disgracing them. However, this is America, you are free to do so. 

A final note on the flaw in my logic. I always ask that you start the voting process by considering yourself. My failure in that logic is my propensity to engage in the platinum rule as I consider myself and expand my perspective to my fellow Americans. 

The platinum rule supersedes the golden rule in that it demands that you treat others how THEY want to be treated over how you want to be treated. What does this mean? This means if I am a white voter I have to take a pause and even if I’m afraid that black and brown people are overrunning my country I should let go of the negative emotions that FOX news creates in me. 

I should think about what I really may know, or even look it up, that people of color have and continue to suffer in vast numbers and they just want to be treated fairly. I have to think that the health care I derided because somehow it just didn’t feel right, maybe because of where I thought the idea came from, is now actually helping my friend’s mother survive cancer. 

If I’m a voter of color I should think very carefully about my desire to want to be part of a class that I consider above my station, that my desire to so strongly be seen by others as on their side can possibly cloud my thinking and my perspective, that my desire to get off of a perceived plantation will result in an outcome, but is it the one I and my family truly need? I must consider it critically. 

As we vote, and hopefully vote with a critical thinking mind, once we begin the activity of vetting the candidate, perhaps we start first with what that candidate’s policy positions will mean for our fellow citizens of different ethnicities, gender, and sexual orientation. Indeed, given my belief in doing good, I would ask what would Jesus truly do? 

Consider all this critically, and truly be good to yourselves, and each other. 

Jay Alan’s Article: http://bit.ly/JayAlanArticle

AMERICANS MUST VOTE

I was asked why I don’t post on politics anymore. The thought was that I did have an impact. My response was that it is entirely too time consuming with no real ROI, Return On Investment. Despite any impact my words may have had I found it fruitless to dive deep into the ideological divide and the swamp of identity politics with facts, point and perspective, going back and forth with people who choose their sides and speak loudly from their own echo chambers. People choose their sides and then choose to not listen.

Plus, the bottom line as that the mediums on which we post are profit centers specifically engineered to consume our time, hold our attention, and drive us to consumption, while locking us endlessly into the platform. We lose our ability to engage in the real world when we spend an inordinate amount of time engaging in the virtual, such that it is. 

So, the discussion pivoted to what could I do, what would I do, if there were still a few people who might listen? That answer through introspection and focus became simple. There is value in engaging on online platforms, from using them for fun, social responsibility, profit making, to education. All these apply in the aggregate as well as for the individual. I believe my value can be found in sharing what I’ve learned and how I have decided to proceed in all my endeavors, including my politics.  

With that in mind, with regard to the upcoming election I would say each of you spread the word that there is a day of responsibility fast approaching. I would ask that you think deeply about the responsibility of the franchise, and how in all the world the experiment that is the American right to vote is perhaps the best, most stable example of the voting process. 

I would say you are not living up to your responsibility as a citizen of this country if you do not exercise the franchise. I would say that in America you are free, though that freedom is complex, fraught with flaws and failures, it is still yours, and if you would protect it, seek to correct it, evolve it for the better, then it is demanded of you that you act, that you exercise the franchise. You must vote.  

And finally, in keeping with all that I am pushing, more so with focus than I have before, I would ask that we embrace critical thinking, for it is the balm for that which ails us. Only critical thinking can free us from our echo chambers. Only real critical thinking can allow us to overcome our hardwiring for ideology and identity politics, only the questions of the critical thinking mind can drive us to see each other as human, that we are all Americans, and that we must take a breath, and realize that when we start by seeing each other as evil with no hope of redemption, then the prospect of all of us living free as we see fit is doomed from the start. 

In voting, I would ask that you use 3FE: Find, Focus, establish your Fundamental Plan, and Execute. Find the details about your candidates. Who are you voting for? Why are you voting for them? What have they done to earn your vote? When have they earned your vote, on what issues, and are they consistent? How have they earned your vote? Where are they active in what they do? Ask the critical questions. 

Focus on the questions freeing yourself from the identity politics as you ask. Let go of group-think. Cast it out. Toss it away. The critical thinkers voting process is thus:

-      Consider the candidate in terms of what they have done and what they say they can do for you. 

-      Consider the candidate in terms of what they have done and what they say they can do for your family. 

-      Consider the candidate in terms of what they have done and what they say they can do for your community. 

-      Consider the candidate in terms of what they have done and what they say they can do for your town or city.

-      Consider the candidate in terms of what they have done and what they say they can do for your state. 

-       Consider the candidate in terms of what they have done and what they say they can do for your country. 

-      Consider the candidate in terms of what they have done and what they say they can do for the world. 

Have you been to the candidate’s website? Have you read their platform? Do you know what a platform is? Again, an informed electorate is a powerful electorate. Each of us must hold each other up and support each other on the facts. Does the candidate note have a platform? Do they just have videos and no written words? If they do not write, or cannot write, or won’t make time to write what they have done and what they will do then as a critical thinker you must question their ability to lead.  What role are they seeking to fill? Think about that role and apply it to the questions above. 

Even if the candidate is running for a local council seat, ask those questions. Think about what the future might be like if the candidate seeks higher office. Consider their intelligence, their temperament, their character. DON’T CONSIDER THE PARTY, consider the person. In these times most candidates will fall in line with their party, but it is incumbent upon you as the critical thinker that asks the right questions to demand that your candidate only embrace and follow the party when it will help their constituency and buck the party when it will not, BE A MAVERICK WHEN IT IS REQUIRED, no matter the threats they may receive from party leadership. These are the kind of politicians we need. 

 Consider those questions before you vote. Look at the ballot in your precinct. Then, plan who you are going to vote for in each position. Then, on election day, execute.  Vote, and be proud of having voted, with the consideration and understanding of why you voted the way did. 

Georgia Sample Ballot: http://bit.ly/GAsampleballot

And always, always remember the hallmark of the critical thinker as you exercise the franchise. It will help you disavow the pervasive power of identity politics that clouds all of our minds and prevents us from thinking for ourselves.  The hallmark of the critical thinker is the sincere ability to seek to understand and internalize the perspectives of others, most especially when that perspective is diametrically, or even violently opposed to our own. 

Consider it critically. Vote!