A dangerous game

The turning off of many reasonable, caring folks from engagement in the processes of democracy is perhaps the biggest danger to our democracy yet.

Watching this Congress come to the brink of shutting down the federal government, yet again, while giving in to extremists rejecting critical funding for Ukraine’s self-defense and for relief for the people of Gaza, it’s hard to avoid giving in to cynicism. The temptation to tune it all out is strong.

And that exhaustion with the relentless coverage of rigid “divisions,” of partisan battles and political gamesmanship, is growing more each day. The turning off of many reasonable, caring folks from engagement in the processes of democracy is perhaps the biggest danger to our democracy yet.

Our country is far more purple, or independent, than red or blue. You wouldn’t know it if you listen to and read most news coverage, which grabs eyeballs by focusing on the rigid extremes and elite decision-makers. We have wide general agreement on things like supporting Ukraine, providing humanitarian relief in Gaza, protecting the right to reproductive care, enacting gun safety laws, ensuring access to health care and reasonably-priced housing to our community members.

But the games being played in Washington DC, and in Republican-controlled state houses around the country, have real and devastating consequences. Lives are damaged and lost as power-brokers jockey for more power. And democracy is damaged, though we hope not lost, by turning that vast number of Americans who want reasonable regulation and a functioning social safety net into cynical non-voters.

And this growth of cynicism is also part of the classic totalitarian playbook. Aspiring dictators know they do not need majority support. They need total support from their base, and enough of the majority to sit out the process, out of hopelessness or exhaustion. Once they take power, they turn their minority of supporters into a violent bulwark against returning to majority rule.

We’ve seen this totalitarian takeover happen in our lifetimes. Sitting this one out is the worst option possible. Our job is to make sure everyone who is able to vote in 2024 does so - up and down the ballot, based on real information, not propaganda.

If the majority of qualified voters exercises their power at the ballot box, democracy will be okay. If not, democracy goes on life support. And that’s a game no one wins.

Thank you for your company on this journey.