Emerging from the Constitutional Convention in 1787, Benjamin Franklin was stopped by a woman who famously asked, "Well, Doctor, what have you given us--A Monarchy or a Republic?"
To which Franklin replied, "A Republic, madam, if you can keep it."
Today, I voted in the primary for the nomination for governor from the Democratic party. Apart from my wife, I saw only one other person in the voting booths. Across New Hampshire, voters were few and far between. At work, I asked if any of my co workers had voted, intended to vote, had any idea there was an election or who was running. None did.
We have Free Staters who have taken over the House of Delegates, who believe public schools are an anathema, that food stamps are the equivalent of feeding stray dogs, which is a bad idea, because they breed. We have a Congressman in Washington, D. C. who wants to end Social Security and Medicare. We have a US Senator from New Hampshire, who smiles sweetly as she extols the virtues of a sheriff from Arizona who rounds up Mexican looking people off the street and throws them into open air concentration camps.
And we take our kids to day care, to school, and we go shopping at the malls, and we remain blissfully detached and unconnected.
There was a wonderful scene in The Band of Brothers, where Private Webster, bursts into a bakery in a German town, to seize bread for concentration camp prisoners he has just discovered outside town. The baker objects to the soldiers commandeering his bread, and Webster, who speaks German, pulls out his sidearm and shoves it into the baker's face.
"Don't shoot!" The baker begs. "Ich bein kein Nazi. Nicht Nazi."
And Webster screams in his face, in English, "Not a Nazi? That camp can't be more than half a mile from this bakery. You had to smell it, when the wind shifted. Don't tell me you're not a Nazi. If you didn't know, it could only be because you didn't want to know!"
And that's us, right here in picturesque New Hampshire. Not knowing because we don't want to know. Or because we are too busy with our doggy lives.
Not that we are Nazis, but if there were any around, we wouldn't care to find out.
Our non-voting fellow citizens are a lot like a fickle lover. Eleven years ago on September 11th they couldn't proclaim their love of country loud enough. Every house had it's flag(s) flying and attending patriotic candle light vigils was a popular pastime.As the ultimate display of devotion to country we sent troops to two wars.
ReplyDeleteNow,eleven years later on September 11th all that passion and ardor is packed away with the flags. The two wars are pretty much forgotten--except by those who serve or have lost someone who served. Blackening a few circles on a ballot is just to much of a sacrifice--we've moved on--democracy jilted.
So Mad Dog I share your frustration and will never understand the idea that voting is somehow optional...
Maud
Ah, Maud,
ReplyDeleteToday on NPR there was a piece on some research done on non voters. Turns out people who got Face Book messages that their friends had voted earlier in the day, went out and voted in very high numbers. Go figure.
They also said the number of non voters exceeds the numbers of all Democratic and Republican voters combined, which makes sense, given less than half vote, even in Presidential elections.
My father always said, "Heaven forbid we try to make more people vote. Those who are not interested enough to vote probably don't read or follow the news and would be ignorant, terrifying voters."
I do fantasize about capturing the imagination and ardor of that 52% who are disengaged.
Mad Dog