An election-night observation

[thatcrazycajun]

As I watch the results coming in for the Presidential, Congressional and state races around the nation, I am struck by this thought:

Think of all the blessings one is privy to simply by virtue of winning the genetic lottery and being born in the United States. And I don't just mean material wealth, relatively solid infrastructure and natural beauty. I also mean things like being able to speak your mind in public, without fear of being arrested, fired from your job or otherwise having reprisals conducted against you or yours. Having access to some of the best and richest information sources in the world, free from censorship (of the government sort, anyhow) even if all you do is buy a newspaper each day. Simply being able to cast a vote and have a say in the selection of leaders and the framing of policy. These are all things we USAians take for granted, that people in many other nations of the world don't get to enjoy.

And all this amazing country asks in return for all this is that, once a year or at least every two to four years, you haul your butt off the couch and down to a polling place (not even all that far from your home, usually) on the first Tuesday in November to hit a few buttons on a touch-screen or mark a few boxes on a slip of paper with a #2 pencil. Ideally, of course, you should do more than that, but that is the bare minimum.

Forget the year, the century or even the millennium; folks, this is the bargain of the geological epoch. Regardless of your party affiliation or political philosophy, we all need to remember this...and all year long, not just on Election Day.

Comments

[mdlbear]

It also asks for jury duty every couple of years; for my part I'm more than willing, even if it's often inconvenient. That's important, too.

[thatcrazycajun.livejournal.com]

True dat; but most people don't get called more than once or twice in a decade, if that often. Less so if they move frequently enough from one state to another.